The Play
by emberin
Summary: AU. His role was to kill her... hers was to hide from him. When fate hands them their roles and the stage is set, will the play always go according to plan? Or will it fall apart because one little thing called love? AxC. /Act Seven: Intermission/
1. Act One: Costume

The Play

Act One: Costume

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 69, December 16 

Office of Patrick Zala, Chairman of ZAFT Supreme Council, Supreme Council Headquarters, Aprilius-1 (PLANT)

"Remind me again why I'm doing this, Father – I mean, re-brief me on the mission parameters, Chairman Zala…"

"Your mission is to assassinate the leader of ORB's daughter, Cagalli Yula Athha. This mission is most crucial as her father is what stands in ZAFT's way of defeating all Naturals! We shall wipe them all out, those people who constantly whine on about having 'a pure and blue world'… once we have ORB under our control, we shall take our forces and destroy them all!" ZAFT Supreme Chairman Patrick Zala said menacingly. He sat at his table in his office, looking at all the plans and files which had collected on his table over the week. On top of all the files was a profile from intelligence collected on the assassination target. The chairman opened the file and handed the top sheaf of papers to the person who stood in front of his desk, his only son, Athrun.

"Intelligence reports have stated Cagalli Yula Athha is currently in hiding somewhere in ORB. Your mission is to join one of the local schools and gain information on her whereabouts. Then, when the time is right, kill her. You have six months to do this job. If after the six months we find that Athha's daughter is still alive, you might as well shoot yourself along with her. Failure is unacceptable! Do you understand?" Patrick snarled.

"Yes, sir!" The blue-haired, emerald-eyed soldier promptly saluted his father in the ZAFT fashion, then put the papers into his briefcase and left the room.

Athrun Zala, ZAFT Red, was not a person to be trifled with. Even though he was very young to be at such a high status – thirteen, actually – he was a very skilled shooter and excelled in the military. Especially because his father was the chairman, he soon had to report to the National Defence Committee on a regular basis and give status reports on various matters. This, however, was his first true mission.

After exiting the council building, Athrun entered the black limousine that waited for him outside the building, opened the door to the back seat, placed his briefcase down on the seat next to him, and rode off back to the apartment he had in Aprilius-1. It wasn't as luxurious as the Zala mansion in December City, but it served its purpose. Seeing as he was thirteen and living alone, Athrun couldn't take care of a whole house anyways. Technically he was a minor, and shouldn't be living alone, but his father was too busy, and his mother…

Twenty minutes later, Athrun arrived at the apartment's front door and entered the building. Taking the elevator to the fifth floor, he inserted the small key he had into the doorknob of flat 5C and entered his four-room, one-person apartment. Although small, there was a nice view of the city from the large windows on the wall. The reason he had the apartment in the first place was simply because now that he had to report to the National Defence Committee on a regular basis, it became a hassle to return to December City all the time. He still went there every so often, but spent most of his time in the apartment.

Athrun set the briefcase on the table facing the television, took a seat in a chair, and took out the contents of the briefcase. There were the papers he got from his father, a laptop computer, and a pen. Unclipping the papers together, he started reading about this girl he was supposed to kill.

Cagalli Yula Athha… currently thirteen years of age. Born May 18, CE 55… Father: Uzumi Nara Athha. Mother: unknown. Siblings: none. Residence: somewhere in ORB. Occupation: student. Education: currently studying grade 8, school unknown. Also has some knowledge and training on usage of several weapons and martial arts, as well as political sciences.

_Well, this doesn't sound too hard, so far…_ Athrun thought. He was even already beginning to formulate a plan in his head…

Personality and character: Observations say Cagalli Yula Athha is a brash, bold and open person who is unafraid to state her opinion. Cagalli, like her father, upholds ORB's ideals and truths. She is also not willing to let anyone boss her around, and will use violence to show her point if extremely necessary. Strong physically and spiritually, Cagalli is not a person to be trifled with.

Athrun narrowed his eyes at the personality area. It looks like he would have an interesting challenge here… especially with the plan he had thought up. _She seems the type of person who wouldn't trust you entirely unless you became friends with her. In that case, all I would need to do is take it a step further. _He smirked. Cagalli Yula Athha was, indeed, a very interesting person…

He flipped the papers to the next page. Here was something else regarding his mission:

Upon arrival in ORB at the designated point (see below), look for a boy with brown hair and purple eyes by the name of _Kira Yamato_. He is your correspondent in ORB: you will stay with him and his family, under the pretext of being his foster brother. Your false data will be entered into ORB's citizen database, thus verifying your presence in ORB. You will join his school and live with him until your mission is finished. However, none in his family know what this mission truly is, and the nature of it. You are not to tell anyone of this mission, not even anyone else in the National Defence Committee; it is between Chairman Zala and yourself.

Underneath the information was a map of the island nation. A small red and black dot indicated the landing point of the boat from Carpentaria Base, the landing point being at a small bay on the southwest tip of the island. It was secluded and quite far from the city, an ideal landing area.

But the thing that surprised him was that this operation wasn't verified by the Defence Committee… wouldn't this be illegal action, to do this mission? The thirteen-year old shrugged it off, believing that it was all right. Besides, those dirty Naturals would pay for what they did to his mother…

_"This just in: Junius-7 has been attacked and destroyed by a nuclear missile. I repeat, Junius-7 has been attacked and destroyed by a nuclear missile…" the radios and televisions blared all day long. The footage of the explosion was played again and again, as though even the TV broadcasters couldn't believe it themselves. Estimations of how many had been killed in the agricultural PLANT kept on going higher and higher as the day went on. _

_"No… no, it's impossible…" a then twelve-year old Athrun Zala kept repeating to himself. "It's just a dream… this never happened… there's no way this happened! It just can't be! Mother can't be dead!" Lenore Zala, who had been on Junius-7 that very day, was most likely caught in the explosion. Athrun curled up in bed, crying into his pillow._

_"Athrun…" the voice of Patrick Zala entered the room. Athrun's father opened the door and went over to sit beside his son on the bed. _

_"It's okay, Athrun, it's okay," he said, trying to comfort the crying child. _

_"It's not okay! Mother's dead… how could it ever be okay?" Only when Athrun looked up did he realize that tears also poured down his father's sad, tired face. _

_"It's okay… because we will get back at the Naturals for this! We will, won't we, Athrun?"_

_"They – they'll pay for killing Mother!" Athrun replied firmly as he wiped his tears away. "We'll be strong for Mother!"_

His father had changed so much, from the kind, caring person to the restless, menacing creature he was now, since his mother had died… Athrun wondered, what about him? He supposed he wasn't completely innocent anymore… but at the same time, he felt that killing everyone just wasn't right, somehow. Like there was another way around it, a way where you could just forgive people and move on. But if his father was determined to do this, then he would listen.

The nuking of Junius-7 had been almost a year ago, happening on Valentine's Day last year. Since then, ZAFT and the Earth Alliance had been fighting a war against each other, with no end in sight, even after ten months. Everyone had been wishing for an end to the war for a long time now, and if this mission proved successful, it could be the beginning to that end.

_Mother… this is for you.

* * *

_

CE 69, December 16

House of Athha, Onogoro, ORB (Earth)

"Remind me again why I'm doing this, Kisaka…"

"Princess Cagalli – "

"For the gazillionth time, I am NOT a PRINCESS!" Cagalli Yula Athha growled. "Now why do I have to go and pretend to be someone's cousin?"

"This is for your own protection. Our intelligence agents have been picking up clues leading to a possibility that ZAFT will send an assassin after you. Since ORB is a neutral country with significant power, it is possible that for a quick end to this war, ORB will be placed in danger. It is most likely that they will either strike at your father, Uzumi Nara Athha, ORB's representative, or you, the representative's daughter. By disguising yourself as a normal citizen, you have less of a chance of being killed."

"That's true… but we don't even know who it's going to be! It could be a person my age, for all we know…" Cagalli's amber eyes shone from underneath her blond hair. She sighed in frustration. "But everyone on ORB pretty much knows what I look like! The assassin could probably walk up to the average Joe on the street and ask what Cagalli Yula Athha looked like…"

"There are such things as people who look alike but aren't related, Cagalli," Kisaka commented. He wore a formal uniform of ORB, his bluish-grey hair tied behind him in a ponytail. "Thus, pretending to be someone else's cousin can't be that hard. Your alias shall be Kagari Clyne."

"CLYNE? But wouldn't that mean I'm related to Siegel Clyne and his daughter Lacus, who were formerly of ZAFT? They only came down because Siegel Clyne had a major argument with the present chairman of ZAFT, Patrick Zala, and Siegel left ZAFT, thinking it was far too tainted and bloodthirsty… wouldn't the assassin be able to clearly see through it? I mean first of all, I don't look a thing like Lacus – "

"Yes, but at least you and her father have the same hair colour," Kisaka remarked. Cagalli paused to think about that for a while, then realizing that Kisaka was right. But she insisted on proving her case to be true. "Secondly, if the assassin is from ZAFT they will surely know that Lacus Clyne does not live with her cousin…"

"But do they really know? It's very possible that Siegel and Lacus did live with someone else in the PLANTs, and even more possible that Siegel might have remarried (although knowing him, he would never do such a thing). And it's not like the assassin will have been spying on the Clyne household beforehand knowing that you'd be pretending to be her cousin. Anyways, the Clynes have agreed and that shall be your alias."

Cagalli sighed in defeat.

"All right, all right! I was just wondering…" she grumbled. Stomping off to her room, she flumped face-down into her canopy bed and threw a green pillow over her head. It was hard to believe that she was going to be Lacus Clyne's cousin until she was old enough to succeed her father as ORB's representative, which wouldn't be until she was at least eighteen.

But she had never lived with anyone else except for Ahfmed, her childhood friend, and her family, and never gone to a school with others. The closest she had to a class was when she and Ahfmed were tutored together. She had never been truly able to make friends with others, and she wished she could… and now, when she had the chance, it wasn't exactly under the happiest circumstances.

However, if this was for the sake of peace and ORB's ideals, she would do it. After all, her father loved life above all, and that was why he believed that Naturals and Coordinators could live together. So, also according to her father's wishes, she opened the laptop computer containing files on ZAFT's top political figures and began reading aloud.

"The current chairman of ZAFT, Patrick Zala… a radical. Wife: Lenore Zala, deceased. Began term in office on April 17, CE 66… ever since the destruction of Junius-7 he has been pushing the Supreme Council to begin a movement to wipe out all Naturals, something akin to the exact opposite of Blue Cosmos, as payback for the 'Bloody Valentine'. There are rumours that he has secretly created a faction of his own, called the Zala Faction, although it is unconfirmed at the moment." Cagalli yawned. This really was tiring…

"He has one son, already a ZAFT Red at the mere age of thirteen who is very accomplished in the military, a potential threat since he may be underestimated for his age. His… name… A…th…run…" she drifted off. _What a strange name… it sounds so mysterious… _And with that, Cagalli fell asleep on the bed, the laptop flashing a picture of Athrun Zala alongside his profile.

* * *

This story is obviously an AU to the original Cosmic Era timeline, so some events will be shifted around (like The Bloody Valentine), characters involved with the war before might not be now, and characters that have met before haven't now (Athrun and Kira, for example). This is purely for the sake of making the story work under this scenario... I hope this has cleared a few things up. 

I truly attempted to resist the urge to put up a new story, I promise… unfortunately my brain thought otherwise. So I'm sorry if I don't update this again anytime soon (I'll try and alternate with my other stories) but I hope you enjoyed this little prelude to the action! And I might not be updating anything else for a while either… oh, woe is me!

-EmbeRin


	2. Act Two: Set

The Play

Act Two: Set

Gee, this chapter is pretty long! I don't think there will be another one this long… Most of this stuff is just explaining stuff, and maybe half of this is absolutely senseless, but for once, I have a reason for all this babble! And usually when there is a break (which there a lot of), there's a POV change, but I'm too lazy to say whose it is… my last note: I'm making Kira's parents Coordinators in this story, since if they were Naturals it would conflict their loyalties and I'm not making a big mess out of it. So sit back, relax and venture into Act Two!

I'm glad that people like this story… thanks to ritachi, Crazy-Destiny, asga, Michiyo Hikari, gseedlover, sw33tdesiree, IYGU, jenniferseedlover and athrunlovely1 for reviewing!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 70, January 7

Archangel Elementary, ORB

"Class, we have two new students joining us for the remainder of the year. Now, I'll let them introduce themselves to you," the teacher, one Murrue Ramius, said. She walked back to her desk at the end of the rectangular classroom, leaving a dark blue-haired boy and an amber-eyed girl to introduce themselves as Archangel Elementary class of 8R's new students.

"Hello. My name is Asuran Yamato. I'm Kira's foster brother and I'm pretty new around here, but I hope that we can all work together and be friends," the boy with the emerald green eyes said politely. Inwardly, though, Athrun was almost laughing out loud. _They're all so foolish and gullible, and that's going to be their downfall. But, I suppose, that's what makes them people of ORB… they all believe in their Representative, and they do whatever stupid things he does and act however stupidly he acts. _

"Hi!" the girl next to him said. "I'm – uh – Kagari! Kagari Clyne…" She seemed to say this somewhat hesitantly. "I'm Lacus's cousin, and I'm going to be staying with her for a while. It's nice to meet you all!" Kagari finished her introduction with a smile and a wave, although she seemed to look slightly nervous. Athrun wondered why that was… then he noticed that the blonde girl looked a lot like the girl he was supposed to kill, Cagalli Yula Athha, from the pictures he saw… but he couldn't start his plan without confirmation.

* * *

Cagalli, on the other hand, couldn't remember what it was, but she was sure that she had seen that guy's face somewhere before…! That familiar raven hair and those piercing emerald eyes. Even the name seemed awfully reminiscent of something, but she just couldn't pin the wandering thought down. _In any case, I should stay on my guard…_

"Well, Asuran, Kagari, there are two desks at the back there, in the cluster with Miriallia and Sai." Miss Ramius informed them, pointing at a four-table cluster where a boy and a girl sat. They both picked up their belongings and headed for their new seats, Cagalli sitting next to Miriallia and that boy – what's his name? – Asuran next to Sai, so that they were diagonal to each other. Miriallia smiled at the new girl that was now beside her.

"Hi. I'm Miriallia. Nice to meet you," she greeted warmly. _She seems friendly, and I'll be needing all the friends I can get, _Cagalli thought.

"Kagari. Same here," she replied.

They turned their attention to the teacher, who was discussing their last math test. She was passing out the tests and writing the answers onto the blackboard with a piece of white chalk. Everyone took out their pens and marked their papers, but Cagalli noticed that some papers were different from others. Miss Ramius also seemed to be writing several different sets of answers on the board.

"Now, we'll be starting a new unit on probability," Miss Ramius announced. "Turn your textbooks to page 191." Seeing that her two new students looked slightly lost, she added, "Asuran, Kagari, your textbooks are in the desks." Cagalli reached inside her desk and found several books: the language text (Words of ORB, grade 8 version), the science books (Collection: ORB Tech (8), Level 4), the history text (ORB and Time) and the math book, Standard Math, ORB Variant 8. She pulled out Standard Math and flipped to the right page – only, it wasn't there. In its place was a large tear.

"Uh… Miss Ramius?" she began, but the brunette teacher didn't seem to hear as she searched for her binder. "Miss Ramius…" she said again, this time more loudly, but still no response. Cagalli was about to say her name a third time when an open book was thrust towards her from the upper right corner of her desk. She looked up, and a pair of emerald green eyes met her amber ones. He smiled. She shuddered. Those eyes brought back unwanted memories…

"Here. I'll get another one," he offered, taking her ripped book. Asuran stood up and walked up to the teacher, book in hand. She seemed concerned at the condition of the book, but reached over to the bookshelf behind her desk and exchanged it for another one. Cagalli watched him as he returned to his seat. There was nothing in if for him, so why did he do it?

"You didn't have to do that, you know," she commented as he sat down in his chair. "I could have done it myself."

He seemed shocked at her words.

"It – it seemed the natural thing to do… besides, I don't want us to get a bad start and the wrong assumptions about each other," he said, almost casually, as though he did this all the time. Sensing a hint of defensiveness in his words, Cagalli immediately began to try and correct what she said, stammering profusely in the process.

"No – uh… I meant to say that… well, not a lot of normal 13-year old boys would have done that…" she trailed off, seeing as Sai was also present at the table.

"So are you saying that I'm abnormal?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"That's not what I meant either!" she almost yelled, at the last moment remembering that she was in a classroom, they were in the middle of a class and that she had been warned, first by her father and then by the Clynes, that it was dangerous to gather attention to herself. Nonetheless, it was far too late – everyone else was staring at her. She turned to Asuran. He had the slyest smirk on his face.

"Kagari, it's nice to see that you're managing to socialize with your peers already, but could you please refrain from doing that while we have other people here trying to learn?" Miss Ramius said politely. Several people giggled. Cagalli immediately buried her face in her mew math book. As soon as the class fell quiet again and Miss Ramius continued on with the lesson, Miriallia passed her a piece of advice.

"Well, you're lucky that it was Miss Ramius that warned you. She's one of the nicest teachers at Archangel. Others, like Mr. La Flaga in particular, they'll do their best to make some sort of name for you if you're caught in that type of situation, pair you up with a guy, even… but don't do this in Miss Badgiruel's class. She's a stickler to the rules, and she'll lay them out for you loud and clear and punish you hard if you don't follow them. Good luck if you get into a pickle with her..."

"Thanks for the warning, Miriallia."

"Mir. Mir is fine, but Milly's pushing it."

Cagalli was growing to like Mir. She seemed happy and upbeat, even when it seemed like a large shadow loomed above her, bothering her. Like something horrible that happened to her left a mark and haunted her in her dreams. But she had moved on… maybe, just maybe, she could share the story that she had with her, the story Cagalli had about her nameless, faceless mother that she never knew, and it would help her get some answers…

_A young four-year old Cagalli Yula Athha trembled in fear at a young man who stood in the doorway of her bedroom. In his hand was a black, L-shaped object with a hole in one end. Though the light was dim, the small girl saw that the strange thing was pointed at her. The look on the man's face was a sneer of contempt. _

_Every time Cagalli tried to remember the man's face, all she could remember was a pair of green eyes. But just as he was about to shoot, FLASH – she heard a bang. FLASH – the next second, a dead body was on the ground. Everything between the flashes were gone, pieces of memory she couldn't remember. Her mother's face was gone from the body… and the green eyes that haunted her in her deepest, darkest nightmares bored into her. And a high, cold voice that often woke her, sweating…_

It was nine years ago.

Her father refused to speak of it, saying only that she had her mother's eyes. There were no records of who she was. It was as though she had been closed off from her own daughter's world. She always wondered, though, about one thing: if she couldn't remember a thing about her mother's face, why could she remember the killer's green eyes?

Green eyes…

* * *

Athrun was thinking.

He was thinking about how he could take the surroundings to his advantage, integrating it with his plan. On the wall opposite the door were three large windows, one to the left of the new girl, Kagari. Lockers lined both sides of the hallways in the school. Each door was inscribed with a name plaque on it with a small window above. And each classroom was exactly the same. _Such boring architecture and design… only a Natural could have thought of this. _

There was no need for him to listen to the class; he already knew everything that was being taught. He at least expected to go somewhere that he would learn something new… but Kira and other coordinators seemed content with Archangel's education, so he guessed there was a special system in place. He had read something about the AXIS system in effect, but he had yet to see how it worked…

"Asuran, Kagari," Miss Ramius called. "Can both of you stay behind during lunch recess? I have something you need to do."

He nodded in acceptance. This would be an ideal chance to see whether this Kagari would be his target for his mission. Kagari Clyne – was it coincidence that he landed in the same class as the deserter's daughter, Lacus? It was them that had planted that small seed of guilt when they left, and they probably wanted to water the flowers now. He could clearly remember the last meeting between his father and Siegel Clyne, even though it was seven years ago…

_"ZAFT has changed, Patrick! All because of your ideals of a Natural-free nation! Rather than further the growing tensions that are rising up between Coordinators and Naturals, we should be preventing it!" Siegel Clyne burst out loud at a meeting between him and Patrick Zala in the Supreme Council meeting room after one particular council meeting that was fraught with yelling and angry opinions. The two sides were led by the two most influential members, Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala._

_"It is these idealistic notions that are what make us weak! We must prove to the Naturals that we Coordinators are the better race! If our nation is divided amongst ourselves we will lose strength!" Patrick retorted just as loudly. His son Athrun stood behind him, nervously watching the two men and their battle of voices. Usually his father was a kind, caring person… why was he acting so angry? And what about war? Hadn't his father said that war was bad?_

_"The Earth Alliance is already gathering their forces near Carpentaria and Gibraltar! Don't try and tell me there will be no war!" Patrick continued._

_Athrun, then six, was about to leave the room when he saw a flash of pink. Next thing he knew, a face appeared in front of him. A face he could not forget, accompanied by a flowing voice…_

That had been the first time he saw Lacus Clyne.

He looked over at the other desks. Next to Kira, who sat at the front right in front of the blackboard, was a person with long, pink hair. For a long time, Athrun had thought that he would never see that hair again… she turned around, and their eyes met. _Those eyes…_ he knew that he could never forget her truthful, serene eyes. At once, he knew that the girl was really Lacus Clyne. And if that was Lacus, he was in danger of his true identity being exposed He would have to tread carefully around her.

The bell rang for recess, and Athrun got up to go outside. Just as he was going to go out the door, a hand grabbed his arm. He turned around to see a pair of lavender eyes under a head of short brown hair. Kira had a big smile on his face and he seemed quite excited about something. Athrun looked around. Lacus was nearby. He had to be careful.

"So, want me to show you around the school and the field outside now, Athr – OW," Kira said, temporarily forgetting that 'Athrun' was not a name people wanted to hear around here. In order to stop him, Athrun had to jab his 'brother' in the side with his elbow, thus the exclamation at the end of his name. Kira turned to see 'Asuran' glaring at him with his green eyes. Kira immediately corrected himself.

"Thanks, Asuran, I REALLY needed that," he said, words laced with vengeful sarcasm. "So do you want me to show you around the school or not?" Athrun nodded, completely aware that Lacus Clyne watched the whole thing. He walked away, staring at her the whole time, watching her eyes try to figure him out, trying to figure out whether he was who he claimed to be, or someone darker and hiding many more secrets.

* * *

Lacus heard and saw the strange exchange between Kira and Asuran. The second she had seen the boy she recognized his eyes. A strikingly unique shade of green that could easily shift from a gentle, kin, possibly even loving look to a cold, shifty, heartless glare. Eyes that were full of both truth and deceit. Eyes that were a maelstrom of courage and fear. She knew only one person with those eyes…

… one Athrun Zala.

Kira had almost called his brother by a different name. And although it was done as unnoticeably as possible, Lacus could tell that Asuran had immediately stopped Kira as soon as he began to say his name. And, strangely enough, the name sounded like a name that she never dreamed of hearing again, one that triggered memories of her angry father who was displeased with what ZAFT had become.

It was far too connected to be a coincidence, that a boy looking EXACTLY the same as Athrun Zala with nearly the same name comes into Archangel at the same time as Cagalli. The inner sense of danger that was within Lacus was screaming with alarm, and it was usually right. But even if she was right, what good would it be if the only proof she had was what she had seen before?

In any case, she had to be careful. If they became aware of her and her father's involvement with Cagalli Yula Athha, she might be killed next.

* * *

"All students in Archangel have to take an aptitude test when they first arrive. It's part of the AXIS system," Miss Ramius said to the two students sitting at their desks during lunch recess. "AXIS, acronym for Advanced EXemplary Individualized Schooling, was designed to adjust the education system for both Coordinators and Naturals, mostly in the areas of science and mathematics. The aptitude test will determine the pace at which you learn and set the education route accordingly. This is because we believe that instead of raising grades and separating students with an age barrier, we should put students with others their own age and individualize each student's education instead."

She passed them both of them two papers stapled together.

"When you finish the test, initial the box at the bottom right corner here to say you did it honestly. The test will be done in pen. Don't worry if you don't know the answer to a question – it simply means you haven't reached that stage yet. Good luck," she finished, and returned to her table to continue marking some papers. The two of them picked up their pens and started writing.

Half an hour later, Cagalli finished off the second paper. Used to writing three letters in initial space, she mentally spaced it out and began writing. Only after she wrote the C did she realize her mistake. Inwardly, she panicked. It was in PEN! The only solution she could think of was to scratch it out and write K.C. next to it. It would look like a mess, but at least her identity wouldn't be busted.

"You're both done?" Miss Ramius walked up to them. She handed them a third set of two papers that had all the answers. "I would mark them myself, but unfortunately three classes' worth of holiday break projects was handed in today… so you can switch tests with each other and mark that. I trust you will be honest?" Both of them nodded. "All right then…" Cagalli looked at the dark-haired boy. For some reason, she was getting the feeling that this face was not a good thing.

* * *

Athrun looked at the blonde girl's paper. All along the sides of the paper were calculations, scribbles and the like, done in black pen. _All of them are for such simple calculations. Only a Natural would need to write down stuff like this because their brains are so small…_ he took out a red pen and began to mark the wide, loopy writing of Kagari Clyne.

On the last page, Athrun noticed a strange thing in the initial box. There was a scratched-out letter, but it looked as though it had been spaced for three letters, not two. And the scratched-out letter was a C… it seemed like the girl was trying to write a name with three initials starting with a C. It sounded quite like a Cagalli Yula Athha, to be specific. And Athrun wasn't about to believe that it was a coincidence, but this mission seemed far too easy now…

"Did I do okay?" he heard a voice ask him. It was Kagari.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…" he replied. It was true; she had done well – for a Natural, that is… just how did he know she was one? Kira had shown him the computer lab while they did a tour around the school's interior. It only took him a minute, but he hacked into the school's administration system and downloaded all the student files of 8R into his PDA. After that, it was merely a look into the file of Kagari Clyne… it looked like some unknown relative of Lacus's mother in ORB had adopted her, but changed her last name to Clyne at Siegel's insistence. _What a loss of identity, _Athrun thought, almost pitying her for a moment. _She has no idea of who she is, being shifted from no one to someone completely different to a Clyne…_

"Really… sure doesn't sound like I did," she commented as they went up to Miss Ramius's desk and handed in the other's test.

"Don't sweat it – you did FINE," he said with a reassuring tone. She gave him a look that said 'If you say so…' and took her stuff and headed toward the next class (History with Miss Natarle Badgiruel). At that moment, the bell rang, and she was standing right under the bell. As she reacted in shock, her hair became entangled in her spiral-ring notebook. Looking frustrated, she untangled it, ripping out a hair in the process. It fell to the ground.

Athrun walked over and picked it up. Kagari had also dropped her pencil…

"Kagari!" he called. She turned.

* * *

But all Cagalli could see were those green eyes… those eyes…

_A gun pointed at her face. A sneer that radiated pure hatred._

_Two green eyes that glared at her all the while…

* * *

_

"Y-you… killed… Mother…" she whispered slowly. Her face was contorted with fear and pain. "Green-eyes…" She began shaking uncontrollably, all the while staring into those orbs of emerald, breathing heavily. When he tried to approach her with her pencil she backed away, eyes wide with fright. _What's wrong with her? I'm just giving her the pencil she dropped… do I look like someone who killed her mother?_

"Kagari, here's your pencil." Athrun held it out towards her. She backed up until she was against the wall.

"Murderer," she spat.

"Kagari? Asuran?" a new voice joined them, soft and silvery. They turned to see Lacus looking at what appeared to be him threatening her with the eraser end of her pencil. Snapping out of her reverie, Kagari snatched the pencil and quickly darted off. "I just came to get my history textbook…" Lacus trailed away. Then she noticed Athrun still standing there, shocked. "What happened?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"I don't know," he answered flatly. "Ask her…"

After Lacus had gone after Kagari, he looked at the strand of hair in his hand. A particular blonde that shone like golden fire when it waved in the sunlight. It seemed to match that blazing attitude of hers, an independent soul who went her way no matter what everyone else wanted or thought – the aura around her seemed to say that. So not only is her appearance similar to Cagalli Yula Athha's, but her personality is as well…

This strand of hair was the final test for Kagari Clyne.

* * *

CE 70, January 7

Clyne Household, ORB

Someone knocked on Cagalli's door. "It's me, Lacus," a voice said.

"Come in," she replied.

Lacus came into Cagalli's new bedroom, shutting the oak doors behind her. She wore a simple pink and white dress with pale pink triangles along the edges, and pink slippers. Cagalli pulled out a chair for her to sit in next to herself. At the table where Cagalli was working, there was a small pencil pot in one corner, and a stack of binders in another. All across the table were papers and textbooks, most of it the day's homework.

"So, what do you think of Archangel?" Lacus asked.

"It's great," Cagalli replied. "I've never actually gone to school with other people, so I don't know if it was relatively good or not, but it's been a good experience so far." She paused, as though trying to gather a thought. "Lacus, could I ask you a completely off-topic and irrelevant question?" At her nod, Cagalli continued. "Do you have any dead relatives?"

After a long pause, Lacus nodded and looked out the window to the stars.

"My mother died giving birth to me, so I never got to see her, but Father told me a lot about her. All my relatives say I look a lot like her." Her voice was wistful. "She sounds like such a nice person… I try my best to be like her, so Father won't feel so lonely. My relatives also told me he used to be a much happier person when she was alive." She turned to Cagalli. "Why do you want to know?"

"I lost my mom when I was four. Some crazy killer broke into our house in the middle of the night, pointing his gun at my face. There was this mad glint in his emerald green eyes – but that's all I can ever remember. I lost all memory of her after the incident. Father burned all the pictures of her and never said a thing about her." Cagalli sighed. "It's just that today, when I took a deep look at Asuran's eyes, they looked almost exactly the same, and I got scared. He'll probably never talk to me again after I called him a murderer…"

"He doesn't seem to be that kind of person," Lacus said comfortingly. "I'm sure he'd understand if you explained." She stood up to leave. "Oh, and dinner is in five minutes." The door shut behind her.

After dinner (smoked salmon and chicken strands in angel hair pasta with cream sauce) Lacus asked Cagalli to leave the table.

"I just want to talk to Father about something in private. It won't take long."

For a while after both father and daughter heard the 'click' of the door closing behind Cagalli there was silence. Lacus sat across from her father, thinking of a way to piece all her thoughts together. Finally, after the maids had taken away all the dishes, she told him what she saw at school.

"Today, at school, there was another new student in our class. This guy looks just like Athrun Zala. Even more suspicious is the fact that his name is Asuran Yamato, and on top of that, Kira, who is supposedly his foster brother, almost called him something that sounded like 'Athrun' before he was discreetly elbowed, like he was being prevented from finishing the word. It's not enough proof to say that this person is Athrun Zala, but it's still very dangerous."

Siegel furrowed his eyebrows at his daughter's report.

"Athrun Zala, Patrick's son? That man never gives up, does he?" He sighed. "Do you think we should tell Cagalli?" Lacus shook her head. "Why not?"

"If we tell her, she will raise her guard and be extremely wary of his movements. While this may be a good thing, it works both ways – if that Asuran really is Athrun Zala, sent to kill Cagalli, he would surely notice her strange actions, especially since they're sitting together at such close proximity in class. I bet he knows what Cagalli Yula Athha looks like and has already established the link in appearance and possibly personality, even.

"Also, Cagalli has never been to a school to learn with a class. I don't want to ruin the experience for her… remember how happy she was when she first came here about learning together and getting to know other people her age? Telling her about this would definitely darken her view on school. Neither of these things will grant good consequences."

Siegel smiled sadly. Lacus was, indeed, so much like her mother… a smart, decisive woman. He nodded in agreement, then walked back to his office and sat down in his chair. Swivelling around to his desk, he picked up one of his many picture frames on his desk and looked at it. Inside the frame was a younger, more joyful version of him with a young woman that looked almost like Lacus, except her hair was a little longer and straighter. Along the bottom of the frame the words 'Siegel and Lilian' were inscribed.

_Lilian…

* * *

_

CE 70, January 7

Yamato Household, ORB

"Kira, Athrun, dinner!" the voice of Mrs. Yamato rang out through the small but cheerful house. Situated at the end of the road, it appeared to be a normal house on the outside. Inside it was, too – but the basement had a small plane on an underground runway with a hatch that opened out to the southwest ocean, and a complex set of computers linked to both ORB and ZAFT systems.

"Coming!" Kira said for both him and Athrun. They had decided that to remind them all that Athrun was present for a mission and that they shouldn't get too close, they would call him Athrun, rather than Asuran, while they were in the privacy of their house. Even so, Kira had encouraged him to loosen up while they had to live together. "We're supposed to be brothers!" Kira had exclaimed. "At least act normal and not like you're fresh out of military academy and ready to shoot anyone!"

"Then how SHOULD I act?" was Athrun's answer.

"Like a thirteen-year old in ORB, who hasn't a care for the war raging on around them – no, you leave that to the government. All you ever have to worry about are whether you passed that test or whether that girl you fell for at first sight will ever notice you…" Kira sighed. Athrun smirked.

"And who might that be?" he asked devilishly.

"La – HEY!" Kira said, unaware that he was answering the question. He managed to snap out of it at the last moment to recover himself. "You are sadistic… has anyone ever told you that? It's not necessary to hold your emotions in though, I suppose… has anyone else seen this crueller side of you, or do you always play the good little boy?"

"Well, I've always been told to play the 'good little boy', as you put it, so I never really showed that side of myself to anyone. I guess you could call it a new experience for me…" he smiled. "This first mission might not be so bad after all. It's great that I could stay with someone like you, Kira." It was a strange conversation…

As the two of them walked down the stairs and sat down waiting for dinner to be put on the bale, Athrun reminisced on the day he had arrived on the secluded southwest shore of ORB…

_The wind whipped through Athrun's hair as a small boat landed on a long beach along the southwest side of ORB. He set foot on the dark brown sand and water mixture that reached up to his ankles, saluted at the officer and boat driver that escorted him in a boat pretending to be a local fishing boat, when it was really from the Vosgulov-class submarine just outside of radar range. After saluting back, the driver and officer rode off. _

_Athrun took in his new surroundings. He was on a small beach with a cliff along the side. Above the cliff was a variety of vegetation, the front lined with tall grass. From where he was, Athrun saw a rustle. He immediately reached for his gun. A brown head poked itself out of the grass. Its eyes darted around as though looking for something. When they saw Athrun, a grin appeared on the face. The head vanished back into the forest. Athrun gripped his gun tighter. The smooth metal feel coursed through his hand. He wasn't prepared to shoot a living target, but just knowing the gun was there gave him a surge of confidence…_

_A few moments later, a boy walked down the stretch of sand toward him. He had the same brown hair that head he saw before did, and a pair of lavender eyes. This must be the boy that was going to meet him, one Kira Yamato. Nonetheless, Athrun didn't let go of his gun. One could never be too sure. _

_"I'm guessing you're Athrun Zala?" the boy said coolly, hands in his pocket. He may have seemed calm, but by the way his eyes looked around nervously, how his hands fidgeted in their pockets and how he shuffled his feet around, Athrun had the advantage here: one of fear. But this guy had information, so he could still be dangerous._

_"Kira Yamato, I presume?" The boy nodded. He extended a hand. "Nice to meet you."_

_"You know, there's no need to get so professional," Kira commented as they walked up a small hidden slope that took the two of them up to the top of the cliff. "I think it would be better for both of us if we get to know each other, considering the scenario we've been presented with…" He seemed almost HAPPY about something._

_"What scenario?" Athrun asked._

_"You mean they didn't tell you?" When Athrun shook his head, Kira continued. "Your alias is to be Asruan Yamato. We're going to be brothers…" Kira grinned. "I've never had a brother before… I'm an only child. What about you?" he asked. He didn't seem to be so scared or nervous any longer. Athrun also relaxed. "Same here," he replied. _

_"Looks like we're both going to try something new," Kira said happily. Athrun agreed. _

After dinner, Athrun made his way down to the basement computer. He connected his laptop into the network and collected some pieces of information that were for the plan he had in mind. Then he transferred the files he had gotten at school from his PDA into the laptop. Finally, he took the strand of hair he had collected that day from Kagari Clyne and placed it in a tube, setting it into a machine and switching on 'DNA Analysis'.

Suddenly, a screen popped up on the laptop, with a face on it. Along the top it said ZAFT Connection – Patrick Zala. He obviously wanted a report. Athrun saluted the image. "Chairman Zala!" he said. "Do you want a status report, sir?" The man shook his head, to Athrun's surprise.

"How was your first day of school, Athrun?" he asked. Athrun was taken aback. He actually started to sound like the father he knew before signs of war began showing on Earth, before Mother died and broke his heart, leaving a vengeful, ruthless shell behind… He was, to put it simply, like the father of a, for lack of a better term, _normal _13-year old.

"It was… interesting, shall I say, Father – Chairman Zala," Athrun answered, correcting himself at the last second. However, his father didn't seem to mind. "There was another new student in class today. She looks a lot like the target, Cagalli Yula Athha, and even her name is similar… but she's staying with the Clynes. Lacus Clyne is also in my class, and it's going to be difficult to manoeuvre around her. However, I don't think it will be too big of a problem with the plan I have made…"

At that moment, a 'beep' came from the machine. Next to it, the screen said 'positive' in green with a picture next to it. A name on top of the picture said, in white letters, 'Cagalli Yula Athha'. The picture was identical to one Kagari Clyne. Athrun smiled in an evil way. What did they have here? It was quite by luck, truth was… but a man like his father didn't believe in luck, and naturally, he drilled it into his son.

"Athrun, what was that?" the voice of Patrick Zala said from the speaker.

"It looks like we've struck gold. How coincidental that we've found Cagalli Yula Athha already…"

"Already? That was quick… in any case, now that you know where Athha's daughter is, what are you planning to do to kill her without a trace?"

"I obviously need to gain her trust, so I can lead her away from the city, where everyone is, to kill her without anyone noticing. She seems like she won't trust you until you've earned it, and so to make sure that she'd pretty much walk into the fires of hell at my word, I just need to…

"… make her fall in love with me."

* * *

ARGH… ANYONE could have seen that coming… but then, that just shows the quality of my writing: terrible. My plots are see-through, repetitive and crazy in general, the characters are too OOC to even be considered the characters any longer and I keep adding (in a big, bad way).

So I thank those who reviewed for being patient for this long chapter (which was never meant to be this long and yet was full of filler), and hope you will continue to read this story… but hey, I don't blame you if you didn't like the chapter. (I didn't like the result either, but I had no other idea on how to fit all the explanations in and so the end result was a bunch of babble…)

-EmbeRin, signing off.


	3. Act Three: Script

The Play

Act Three: Script

Haha! I've finally trudged through loads of homework to get here. Serious procrastination at hand… I know this is weeks beyond when I promised the chapter to be due, but we had around three projects within the first two weeks of school assigned and another five afterwards… I'm extremely sorry! I'm bound to be saying this about every time I update for the next ten months… and like I said in the last chapter, none of the chapters in the near future will be as long as the last one, probably. At least, not this one…

Oh, and answers to reviews can be viewed at my blog. If the permalink hasn't uploaded onto the web from my profile yet, just click on my homepage and look for the entry called 'The Play, Act Two'.

DISCLAIMER: I, EmbeRin, do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 70, January 14 

Room 19A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

In Archangel, the junior and intermediate grades had rotary classes. For the class of 8 Ramius, third period was spent in History with Miss Badgiruel, a relatively new teacher at the school. Fresh out of college, she quickly made herself known throughout the school for her rulebook-like procedures and structured classes. On a harsher note, she was also known for making extremely strict rules and giving severe detentions. The worst thing was that she didn't seem to care.

So the entire fifty-minute period was spent trying to stay awake through the boring discussions on the formations of Morganroete and Heliopolis. History was not a fun subject to begin with, and Miss Badgiruel's rigid schedules and lectures just made it worse. She easily held the title of 'Strictest Teacher', and it didn't take the two new students long to figure that out. Of course, they also had outside sources to rely on; Kira had given a lesson to Athrun that he liked to call 'The Nuances of Archangel Elementary' and Cagalli had been tipped off by Miriallia (Lacus simply couldn't say anything bad about a teacher).

Of course, neither knew that the other knew.

Athrun was absently glancing at random things in the classroom. He knew everything from the lesson already; military academy required them to know the history behind all important military locations, and ORB was one of the most heavily discussed. His mind wandered off to what he and his father had talked about when he accessed the ZAFT connections a week ago…

_"… make her fall in love with me," Athrun concluded, satisfied with his presentation._

_Patrick was silent. He didn't reply for quite a while, looking like he had something heavy on his shoulders, and sighed deeply. It was like he didn't approve of it… but why not? It was the perfect plan. Get her trust, take her out under the pretext of going on a date. Go somewhere secluded, shoot her dead. Leave during the night, mission accomplished and no mess. _

_"I'm concerned, Athrun. Love is a dangerous thing," he said finally. "Emotions aren't things to be trifled with, especially love. They can trigger the darkest actions with the worst consequences." But Athrun could tell that what his father really wanted to say was 'What if you fall in love? With a Natural at that?' _

That WASN'T going to happen. Athrun knew he wasn't stupid enough to do something he knew was bad for him. It was a mission, one that could turn the war, and he wasn't about to bring it all down with one move. Besides, back at PLANT he had had several close encounters with squealing girls who had found him – what was their term? – cute. If every girl were like that, he wasn't falling in love anytime soon.

But Kagari – no, Cagalli… she intrigued him. She was different. She didn't care about guys or what she wore or what she had. She didn't go with the flow. She loved to take the negative side on arguments and turn the other's opinion around (be it by her words or her fist, he learned). Athrun supposed it must have come from growing up with no one but servants, emirs and bodyguards.

He looked over at her. She wore that day a pair of cargo pants along with a red shirt, and a dark green vest over top. Her blonde hair fell around her shoulders, not held up by clips or elastics. The look on her face was one of slight boredom, though she looked tired. Like him, she also had trouble concentrating on class.

She looked in his direction, and their eyes met. For a moment, they stared at each other, a feeling of strangeness hanging between them. It wasn't hate, but it wasn't a feeling of attraction either… just confusion.

* * *

Cagalli tried to study the eyes, suppressing her fear in favour of her curiosity. Who was this boy who had eyes SO similar to that man who had killed her mother?

* * *

However, they both realized they were staring, and so quickly looked away – but not before Miss Badgiruel caught them. 

"Yamato, Clyne!" she barked. Athrun's and Cagalli's heads snapped forwards; so did Kira's and Lacus's. Miss Badgiruel turned to the latter two, saying, "Not you. You two, however," she turned back to Athrun, "have detention with me this afternoon recess. Have I made myself clear?" She 'treated' both of them with her best stony glare.

"Yes, Miss Badgiruel…" the two replied. Even Athrun knew that was harsh punishment from a harsh teacher. Compared to punishment in military academy, though, this was relatively light. _This is sad. If they can't even give out punishment, how do they expect their children to survive the real world? Oh wait, they're so ignorant, even the adults are ignoring the war… _

He didn't have to pretend to be paying attention, because as soon as the History teacher had announced their punishment, the loud, blaring bell rang. Athrun saw his fellow classmate-that-got-punished immediately jump out of her seat and zip through the door along with ten other people who seemed to have been waiting for the heavenly sound to come out of the speakers on the ceiling. He slowly gathered his things and exited the room, carefully avoiding the glare of Miss Badgiruel.

* * *

Cagalli hadn't intended to get herself in trouble. 

She got bored of History class, so she just let her eyes carry her attention elsewhere. Her eyes had fallen on a book entitled 'The East Side Murderer'. _Murderer…_ it reminded her of that incident last Monday. Did Asuran still remember? And if he did, would he understand what made her say it? Lacus thought he was the understanding type…

She had then looked at him. He was just idly gazing around, not really paying attention either. Then, he turned his attentions to her. The emerald eyes of his looked into hers. She was sure she had seen that face somewhere…! Just – where? Had she forgotten? No, it lingered somewhere within the deep reaches of her mind, but she couldn't put a finger on it.

And the rest is history…

She silently returned to her homeroom classroom, stopping by her skinny, tall, blue locker to drop off her textbooks and picked up her lunch. Walking in, she sat down at her table cluster to find no one else there present. When they arrived, both Asuran and Sai took their chairs to sit elsewhere for lunch, leaving spaces for Lacus to sit in.

Soon after, both Miriallia and Lacus arrived. It had begun to be a sort of practise that they sat together for lunchtimes and happily talk about miscellaneous matters. However, today, no one was talking. Even the usual chatterbox Cagalli was silent, unable to say anything. And so it remained that way until the bell rang, signalling for the recess to begin. As she exited the back door to the field outside, she noticed Asuran going out to the front of the school. Where was he going? Did he have permission to leave school grounds? Why would be heading that way if he wasn't?

* * *

As a matter of fact, Athrun Zala, well, '_Asuran Yamato' _was allowed off-grounds during lunch hours. Athrun Zala would be arrested on the spot if he were found. But he hadn't, so he freely walked off to the nearby high school (Kusanagi High) where he was to meet two assistants who were assigned to the assassination attempt. 

Just outside the front door of the high school stood two figures. Athrun sized them up; one was a boy not much older than he was, with straight, short silver hair, whereas the other boy had short, curly blond hair, also around the same age as the first. They were at the meeting place and no one else was around, but one could never know… the silver-haired boy had a sour expression on his face while the other had this extremely wide grin on his face, probably made at the other's expense.

He approached the two of them, who also stared at him. Then, Athrun said the first part of the code: "The bird has been caged. Who is there to free it?"

"The hunter shoots the bird for its eternal freedom in death," the blonde replied, saying the second part of the code. For a second no one spoke.Then, the sudden realization of who was standing in front of them made both of their eyes go wide. Athrun didn't get what was so surprising, but the silver-haired seemed rather… angry? Athrun could only guess as to why he was so…

"YOU'RE Athrun Zala?" the silver-haired boy exclaimed, expression getting increasingly angry. "I'm going to get BOSSED AROUND by someone who's YOUNGER than me?" His companion made a 'shh!' sound to tell him that he was far too loud.

"And you are…" Athrun asked to the curly-haired one, ignoring the silver-haired's comments.

"Dearka Elsman," he replied. Son of Supreme Council member Tad Elsman. And this fellow here," Dearka pointed at the fuming friend of his, "is Yzak Jule. A very – how to say it? – fiery attitude he has…" This last remark, although definitely true, only added to Yzak's anger, and though one was very likely to think that Dearka had deliberately poked out at him, it made one doubt that Yzak was any good as a soldier who was supposed to be undercover.

"I can speak for MYSELF, thank you very much!" Yzak spat. "I can't believe that I have to do work under HIM…" he continued angrily, speaking as though Athrun were not in front of him. "Why couldn't have they just given the mission to me?" He was on the verge of a breakdown. Still, Athrun couldn't help but exert his superiority over Yzak.

"Could you keep it down? There's always the chance we'll be overheard and discovered…" he said quietly, trying to imitate that silent feeling of command his father had over others. Although it was probably more out of the fact that Athrun had been correct rather than the fact that he had been successful at his mimicry, Yzak still promptly shut up.

Mistrust and hostility still hung in the air. Neither was about to make the move that could get him killed. Was there something to break the barrier? Athrun tried for the direct approach.

"Now, about the plan…" he began.

"You know, this had better be one heck of a good plan," Yzak started, "because if the plan to ki – "

Athrun had to quickly run over and cover his mouth, because at the very moment that he was going to say 'kill Athha's daughter', Miriallia rounded the corner. Why she was there, it was anyone's guess, but it was Athrun's quick reflexes that saved them – for the moment…

"Asuran…?" Miriallia said in surprise. "What are you doing here?' Her gaze then turned to the staring Dearka and the silenced Yzak, and she asked, "And who are your friends here?" She failed to catch the glare that Athrun sent to Yzak telling him not to say a peep and let him do the talking.

"These two are former roommates in the orphanage I came from before meeting up and joining the Yamato family," he said, trying to sound convincing. It wasn't much good, but from the impression he got from Yzak, it had to be better than anything he could have made – he was simply a little too angry at the moment.

"Oh… well, I'm really happy that you got to reunite for a few moments! I'm so rude, interrupting your…" she paused as she saw Athrun's hand over Yzak's mouth and Dearka just standing there, looking at them, "… group practises. I really should be going… see you in L. A.!" Miriallia sauntered away.

"Tomorrow, same time, same place," Athrun whispered as he left. "Then I'll tell my plan."

Both of them nodded. 'Same time, same place' was one of the most basic codes learned in Espionage, which meant 'the closest park to here, five o'clock'. Assuming they got the message, Athrun turned and left for the school, checking his watch to see how long there was until the bell rang.

_Great, I'm gonna be late..._ he thought, frustrated, as he ran back to school.

* * *

Cagalli watched as Asuran rushed into the classroom, flustered but prepared for a double Language afternoon. He was able to get to the table before the stacks of binders, textbooks and pencil cases in his arms fell out, spilling all over the desk cluster. Suddenly becoming aware of the ruckus he had created, he turned slightly red and mumbled an 'Excuse me, Miss Ramius' before he slunk down in his chair, trying to make himself unnoticed. _He looks kind of… cute, when he does that… _She smiled inwardly. 

"Asuran, I do hope you know the definition of 'punctuality'," Miss Ramius said sternly, although she had a small smile on her face. He nodded slowly. "Then I expect you to be punctual when arriving at classes, as do all the other teachers." Cagalli noted that Miss Ramius stressed the word 'punctual'. Once again, Asuran mumbled a reply, this time one that Cagalli couldn't hear. Miss Ramius's hearing must have been super good, because she said "Good" and began to write on the blackboard.

Cagalli followed the teacher's hand as she wrote with the chalk. The graceful, loopy writing formed the words 'School Play' at the top of the blackboard and made a chart of sorts underneath, with the titles 'Actors', 'Setting', 'Music' and 'Organization'. Beneath these titles were lists of responsibilities, subsections and criteria in the section. Cagalli could only make an assumption as to what was going to happen…

"As most of you know, the three grade eight classes each make a play and present it at the end of a term. Luckily for us, this year we are doing the end-of-year play, which will be put on for the whole school to see during the last week of school. We have to do everything, from script to costume to lighting to even setting up chairs, so we'll start now to get a head start." Miss Ramius began. She turned to the board.

"Now, everywhere on this board is voluntary EXCEPT for the acting. The actors will be nominated from the class, as is 8R's custom. This helps to reinforce bonds within the class, as well as shape the play's plot, which we will work on as a class during L.A. classes. While this may seem slightly unfair, the upside is that all actors do not have to take a second job, like everyone else. We'll start choosing now, I guess…" She looked onward at her students getting prepared to point at everyone else. Every year, she got the shy bunch of students, so she came up with this solution… inwardly, Miss Ramius sighed to herself.

"It doesn't hurt to ask, though – are there any volunteers to take the lead male and female roles?"

Everyone sat on their hands, although not for exactly the same reason as what Miss Ramius thought. If they were picked, multiple bad things could happen to them…one of which was Mr. La Flaga finding out and announcing it to the whole school. Now, THAT was BAD… at least, they could try to avoid fate for a few moments and enjoy their last couple of seconds of freedom.

Miss Ramius was about to sigh in defeat and submit to the yelling and pointing when a hand shot up. It was Asuran's.

"Well, what a pleasant change. You agree to play the part of the lead male role, Asuran?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not?" was his reply.

Everyone stared at him. Either this guy was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid… but then, he was new. Maybe they should cut him some slack. But Lacus's cousin hadn't raised her hand. He COULD just be stupid… the air he held himself with, though, was one of intelligence. Just what was this guy planning?

Of course, only Asuran himself knew.

Cagalli had different reasons for not volunteering, though. The prospect of getting a lot of the beneficial results of being one of the actors was good; she would find out more about her classmates, have an opportunity to develop a stronger base of friends, and a chance to fortify the identity 'Kagari Clyne'. This would have been a great plan, if it had not been for one fatal flaw.

Cagalli couldn't memorize all those lines if her life depended on it. And, in an indirect way, it did.

But fate had decided to intervene once more in Cagalli's already fate-twisted life, and she heard Miss Ramius say, "Well, the role's yours, Asuran. And since you were so kind as to volunteer for the job, why don't you have the honour of picking your co-star, the lead female actress?" Cagalli saw Asuran gulp.

She soon saw why; everyone was staring at him. The girls were frozen in place, and the guys were snickering. He was under extreme pressure. If she were in his place at that moment, she would have died from the pressure. But then, if she was to be Representative of ORB, she would have to go through things ten times worse. This couldn't be that bad… then again, she thought, as she looked at his face, maybe it could.

He turned to her, and he had this pleading look in his eyes, like he desperately needed her help. Cagalli tried not to scream at the sight of his green-green eyes that bored into her amber ones. Why did she get so scared, even when the eyes looked so different? They weren't murderous or evil-like, so why did she get that feeling that she should be scared of him, that the fact that she recognized her face from somewhere else was bad? She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize that she had nodded her head at him. What he said next was NOT what she had in mind…

"Miss Ramius, could Kagari be my co-star?" he asked the teacher.

Cagalli couldn't hear the whispers of the other girls and the hushed laughter of the other boys. She couldn't feel Miriallia's nudge and pinch. All she could sense was the presence of Asuran Yamato, one that was drawing her attention, compelling her to stare emptily at him, while her inner emotions were locked inside her. Even when Miss Ramius granted her the role, she hadn't reacted.

The only thought running through her head was, _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

* * *

_

Well, that wasn't that good, but I really wanted to get this up. I'm sorry if this was the worst I've ever written, but school has that kind of impact on my writing, unfortunately. This was kind of unbalanced and random… sorry! Let's just hope that the next act will be better…

-EmbeRin


	4. Act Four: Plot Device

The Play

Act Four: Plot Device

I'm back! Hello again, people…

I'm going to try out the 'review response' thing that is putting up now… so goodbye, blog.

This chapter might be a little surprising... I was surprised by how it turned out myself...

DISLCLAIMER: I, EmbeRin, do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 70, February 5 

Room 20A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

"No, no, that line stinks. Too clichéd!"

"Can you sing? We need more singers in our mini-choir…"

"What are Kali and Alexei going to wear in this scene here? We're kind of lost…"

There was much hubbub in the class of 8R that day as they began to settle into the groove of working on the play. As the lead roles, Athrun and Cagalli were to work with the two scriptwriters. It was too bad one of them had to be Catalina, perhaps the most annoying person in the class. Athrun tried to be a little optimistic about the situation.

_Well, _he thought, _in our unified fight against Catalina, it brings the target and I closer together. This could actually work to my advantage… and perhaps if I play my cards right, I could manipulate Catalina to hate Cagalli even more. Yes… _it was all playing out in front of his eyes. He tricks Catalina into thinking he liked her, then tricked her into hating Cagalli more. He would then turn right around behind Catalina and bond with Cagalli.

It was risky, but the results were too good to give u. This plan, though, could only REALLY start after he had gained Cagalli's trust, but that would be taken care of soon. There would be no worries. This plan was impossible to see through. Athrun himself sometimes got lost in it all…

"I am NOT going to say that line, and NOTHING you do will make me!" At the moment, his blonde-haired fellow star was bickering with Catalina, waving the script around in the air to accentuate her angry remarks. "'Show me if you're as persuasive with your mouth on mine as you are with your words'…? What kind of crap is this? Is this even acceptable in a school play?" She shook the sheaf of papers. "And what about Asuran?" The stack of papers pointed to him.

"Huh?"

"What kind of line is this?" Cagalli whacked the papers. "This is for a family audience! You do not put this in a play that kindergarteners are going to see! Have you even CONSIDERED how the parents would feel about this?" She turned to Athrun again after yelling at Catalina. "So, what do you think?"

Athrun found it very hard to keep his cool under the glare of two girls. He almost shuddered, but caught himself. "How about we make a compromise?" he suggested. "We include a line of that sort," Catalina had on a big grin, "but we have to definitely change the line." Cagalli stuck her tongue out at Catalina.

"I've got it!" a sudden voice exclaimed. It was Kelly, the other scriptwriter. She had a knack for writing and drama, making her the ideal scriptwriter of the class. Athrun had also noticed that Kelly was slightly hyper when exposed to sugar, but it actually helped her to write.

She put her hands in the air, as if to signal a headline on a paper or a catchy slogan on a billboard. "'Before, I didn't know what to believe. I was scared. But now, I can look into your… blue eyes,'" she finally decided on a colour, "'and know I've fallen in love with my true love.' And then you two can kiss or something or whatever." Kelly seemed satisfied with the result. "It fits. After being mistakenly suspicious at Alexei, Kali could be confident in her love."

"I am not going to kiss anybody either!" Cagalli continued angrily.

"Kagari, you're refusing a kiss," said Catalina, "from perhaps the CUTEST guy in the class!" Catalina batted her eyelashes at Athrun. He let himself shudder then. _I suppose it makes the 'Asuran Yamato' character seem innocent,_ he thought. _Still, I am thoroughly scared of girls now… _he saw Cagalli and Kelly gag. Athrun sighed. He could totally agree…

He suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket. _The signal! _It was time to execute stage one. He excused himself from the group under the pretext of going to the washroom, then went up to Miss Ramius. After getting Permission to leave the classroom, he entered the hall and took out the little black vibrating disk. He pushed the blue button on the device.

"Zala. You ready?" Yzak's voice spat out of the speaker. Still angry as ever, he and Dearka were currently in their classes at Kusanagi. They had set up the plan with utmost care, although Yzak doubted its efficiency. Early in the morning, they had snuck in and planted a small bomb in the target's locker. But no one was to die from it… he slipped inside the boys' washroom.

"Yeah. Activate the bomb, time to three minutes."

"You sure this will work?" Diearka asked, through his own speaker.

"We'll see…"

* * *

"Kagari, did you bring the folder?" 

"Shoot! It's still in my locker… I'll go get it."

* * *

Athrun looked at his watch. Thirty seconds left… he couldn't stand waiting inside anymore. He got out of the washroom and leaned against the wall, taking a few deep breaths. After training with explosives so many times, he was still scared of bombs. That one in the locker, it was only supposed to blow a small hole in the wall. 

He stared up at the ceiling. So many things could go wrong. This was his very first mission, after all, and he didn't want to blow it. First, mission, first operation, first failure… all the things swirled around in his head. His watch read fifteen seconds left. Never had thirty seconds seemed so long. No, ever since his mother died, everything had been a whirlwind of events.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure walk out of the classroom and go along the line of lockers. _NO!_ No one was supposed to die yet. There were five seconds left on the watch. He ran down the hall, not caring if the teachers saw or heard. He shoved the person down the hall, him falling on top of the person. They slid down the nearby ramp.

Time was up. The bomb exploded.

A large 'BOOM' resonated throughout the school. Smoke filled the hall outside the classroom 20A, where Miss Ramius had the kids go through emergency procedure. Pieces of concrete and metal littered the hall, so classes filed out through their alternate exits. Out in the field, there were voices asking 'What happened? What's going on?' all over the place.

But all Athrun could feel was the person who he lay on top of.

The person was a girl, he noticed, as his hand was just coincidentally placed on her breast as he pushed her out of the way. She had blonde hair – his face was in it, and it smelled of tangy oranges. The scent flooded Athrun's nose. He immediately felt attracted to her.

Then her head turned, and her face appeared through her hair. The first thing Athrun saw were her lips. They were so close that if he moved his face the slightest bit lower, his mouth would meet hers. His gaze moved further up, along the slightly reddened cheeks and to the girl's slowly opening eyes. _Amber…_

_Athha's daughter!_ He instantly got up. At least, he tried to. Their legs had intertwined in the fall, and her right leg had twisted over his. He fell right down again, and only the quick movement of his hands saved him from falling onto her again. His raven hair arranged itself so it fell around her face. His gaze was right on her eyes.

_I saved HER?_

Athrun was utterly disgusted with himself.

* * *

Cagalli opened her eyes to a strange sight. 

At first, she saw the raven hair that she felt tickling her cheek. Then, she felt small breaths on her lips, and something tangled in her legs – she couldn't really tell hwat. Something was on her hair as well, pushing down on it, like a pair of hands. She then noticed the green, green eyes staring down at her.

Instantly she backed away – _the man is back!_ her mind screamed in panic. She forgot about the 'thing' tangled in her legs, and something fell on top of her between her breasts. It was someone else's face. She looked down her body, and found someone else's lay on top, legs tangled into hers, hands on her hair. All around them were little pieces of concrete. _What the heck had happened?_

The person looked up. It was Asuran.

"Asuran Yamato," she found herself saying. "I don't know whether to say 'get the HECK off of me, NOW' or 'thank you for saving me', so I'll say neither." Truth be told, after the initial shock, the feeling of him on top of her wasn't terribly uncomfortable. It was actually starting to grow on her…

_What am I thinking? _Cagalli told herself. _I'm thirteen and I'm thinking CRAZY thoughts!_ She shuddered, inwardly. _Especially with some person probably after me and something blown up in school! _She felt Asuran get off her and stand up. He offered her his hand.

"Sorry," he muttered.

As she accepted his hand, a strange feeling ran up her arm. And at once, she knew exactly what it was.

_Blasted hormones,_ she thought angrily.

* * *

CE 70, February 5 

Onogoro Park, ORB

"So," asked Yzak, "how did it go?"

"The target approached her locker five seconds before the bomb went off."

"Does this mean she's dead? Is that why they're searching at Kusanagi as well?" Dearka said. The three of them sat along a ledge of stone in the park. To the common passerby, they looked like three teenage boys just talking.

"No. I accidentally pushed her out of the way before the bomb exploded, thinking she was an innocent student. I had no idea until after."

Yzak threw his hands into the air.

"This is hopeless. I'm under the command of a kid who saves his own target? Why, oh why wasn't I put into command instead of him?" He wore an exasperated expression on his face. "What kind of soldier does such a stupid thing? The chairman must be embarrassed to have a son like you!"

"If the innocent person were to die, the Clynes would pull Athha's daughter out! It's bad enough she was almost hit. We can't lose our only track of her. And wouldn't it have been suspicious to have only stayed one month and then leave right after someone dies, who will later be identified as Cagalli Yula Athha? The political military courts would be all over ZAFT to have stormed into a neutral country, especially undercover. At least, with the way we originally planned it, there is less suspicion."

"'The enemy is whoever stands in the way of justice.' We are justice! We, as ZAFT soldiers, represent the justice ZAFT upholds! Your own father said those very words that are embedded in each ZAFT soldier's heart and soul. Denying those words is like denying your motherland! Yet you just seem to be making excuses to cover your own sorry behind."

Athrun argued back, but he knew Yzak also had a point. His father had said those words in his first speech as chairman. What was the right thing to believe? He didn't know anymore. The only thing he did know was that all Naturals had to die for the bombs they set loose on Junius-7. And it was blind rage that led him to believe that.

_I'll avenge you, Mother…

* * *

_

CE 70, February 5

Clyne Household, ORB

"Cagalli, it's too dangerous for you to continue going to school. I'm pulling you out," Siegel announced over dinner.

"NO!" Cagalli shouted. "This is all about the bomb, isn't it? It didn't hurt anybody. I don't want to be home schooled. Please, let me stay in…" All the work they had done on the play… it would all go to waste. She understood the danger of staying in school – she could get killed – but being home schooled was so boring…

"We're already having suspicions that someone is after you. If we aren't careful, you'll get caught by ZAFT and ORB will descend into chaos. That man Zala won't stop at anything to reach his dream, even if it means breaking international law. He's determined to get his justice for the PLANTs. It's too dangerous with all these risks. Uzumi would be angered to no end if I let something happen to you."

"Father would call me a coward for not standing up for ORB!" Cagalli replied angrily. She abruptly stood up and slammed her chair into the table. She ignored the broken glass and water now on the ground and stormed out of the room. Lacus and her father looked at each other.

"We should have told her earlier. It was my bad judgement, Father. Excuse me," Lacus said, and left the room after Cagalli. Siegel sighed. Soon enough, ZAFT would come after him and Lacus too, he knew it. And he couldn't do much to stop it all from happening.

* * *

"Cagalli?" 

Lacus stood at the door, knocking. Cagalli had been in there for a while now. What was going on? Everything was moving so fast. First Cagalli had moved in, then someone like Athrun was at school and now a bomb went off at school… she suspected it was all linked, as was natural, but maybe there was a twist in all of this.

After standing at the door for another minute, Lacus slipped into her room right next to Cagalli's. It was all pink – pink walls, pink bedspread, pink carpet, pink pillows… Lacus could just blend in with her pink hair and clothes. She sat down in her swivel chair and took out two folders. One was the play's music, the other was her file on Asuran Yamato.

At the moment, she was writing the lyrics for Kali's love song, the one she would sing when she found Alexei at the other side of the river, the enemy's side. But it was hard to write a feeling she couldn't draw on first hand. She had never really been in full-out love with someone before. Only one person came close to that category, but it was obvious he didn't like her back. Kira was always talking with that girl Flay Allster, smiling, laughing. Never with her. No, Lacus Clyne was too far away and different from her.

But today when the bomb went off, he hadn't gone off to the other classes to find Flay like he did in that fire that happened in the school last year. He had grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the smoke. Lacus looked down at that hand, which now held the pencil. It still tingled. She smiled. The feeling was good.

She took out the papers from the second folder. A few pictures of Asuran fell out in between the piles of carefully handwritten letters. She took out a blank piece of paper, stuck on a few pictures of today's incident, and began to write:

_February 5. A bomb went off at school today. Subject left classroom to washroom three minutes before explosion. He and Cagalli emerged from the halls after the explosion. School has been closed for reconstruction. Subject could be linked with the bomb. Forensic investigation is being conducted, but most likely the culprit was not so foolish as to leave prints._

Asuran was a nice person, though. She didn't want to believe that he really was Athrun Zala, out to kill Cagalli. But all the small things were pointing to him…

* * *

Cagalli lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She hadn't heard Lacus' knock – her ears were plugged with earphones leading to her MP3 player. Her mind wasn't on the music though, either. It was on Asuran. 

She kept thinking of how he had saved her from the bomb explosion. A piece of his dark hair had landed in her blonde, she noticed, and she tried to get it out. She was too rough with it, though, and pulled out one of her hairs as well. The two had tied together in a tight knot. His hair wasn't all she liked of him, though.

He had such charm, it wasn't a wonder he attracted so many girls. He was kind, compassionate and honest in so many ways. His face… it was so familiar she knew it was resting on her tongue, but it wouldn't come out. Him being extremely cute was an added bonus, but she would have fallen for him anyways.

However, he and Lacus didn't seem to get along well. He avoided her, although discreetly. When they did see each other they didn't speak much, and today, when they exited the bombed school, she was staring at him. What could he not like about Lacus, and what could Lacus not like about him?

Cagalli wondered how Asuran knew there was a bomb in her locker, but she just shook it off, thinking that he probably saw it at the angle he was walking to her. Any dislikes she had of him were wiped at that moment, and all she could see, all she could feel, all she could smell at that moment he first fell on her was him. She tried to recall the feeling, but she only got remnants.

_Why are you so obsessed with a guy you've only known for a month? _her mind asked. _You don't have the freedom to obsess on a pointless crush. Didn't today's bomb show you that? Besides, after the war, you might not even see him again. He probably doesn't even like you back! You might as well just spend your time studying your lines!_

Still, she thought of him.

* * *

CE 70, February 5 

Yamato Household, ORB

Kira and Athrun sat in their shared bedroom, each on his own bed. Kira's bed cover was one of blue and green, with gold and silver streaks. Mr. and Mrs. Yamato had offered to buy Athrun his own, and although Athrun had wanted a nice red one, he had said no, there was no need for them to waste their money, considering that he would be gone in six months anyways.

"Did you have anything to do with that bomb today, Athrun?" Kira asked. "I should thank you for it – it gave me a chance to hold Lacus' hand."

Athrun smiled. So something did come of the explosion. Something good, amidst all of the bad he'd done…

"Yeah," he replied. "But I can't tell you what for. I made an oath of secrecy to mission. It's between me, my fellow soldiers of the mission and the Chairman." He really did want to tell someone. It was painful to hold secrets inside, and Kira was his best friend at ORB. But he already felt like he was betraying ZAFT, so he didn't say anything.

"You can tell me," Kira said. "I won't tell."

Athrun looked at his friend. Eager to know, like a puppy sitting at his feet looking up at him. It was definitely better for him not to know. It was the innocent people that should be left alone, isolated from the war. But then, that was what made them completely and utterly ignorant… and ignorant people should die.

"No. Trust me, you don't want to know."

Kira shrugged. "If you say so."

After a while, Kira got up off his bed to play at the computer, leaving Athrun alone in the room. Athrun continued to sit on his bed. He appeared bored, but his mind was full of conflicting beliefs. The innocent should not die, but was a Natural innocent? What if they tried to do something, but couldn't stop the missiles? Was Athha's daughter guilty just because she was Athha's daughter? Was his father right in what he was doing?

No, he refused to believe his father was wrong. The Naturals hated them. They were too jealous of what Coordinators could do. They all had to go.

He thought back to Athha's daughter. She was fiery, spunky and full of attitude, but also caring, he noted. She always helped others more than she helped herself. He admired. Such an amazing person…

… too bad she was a Natural. And Athha's daughter.

Still, he remembered this morning's events. How he had fallen on her, touched her, smelled her, sensed her. It wasn't intentional, but it triggered a whole new set of feelings for him. At once, he knew what it was: lust.

Athrun tried to shake the feeling off. He was only thirteen! But his hormones had just decided to kick in – on a person he was going to kill. She really was beautiful, both inside and out; her golden blonde hair represented her two sides, the spunky with the flashes of sunlight off her hair, and the kind with the bright look of the yellow. He and she were practically polar opposites, yet similar in places…

_You're only making this harder for yourself, _his mind told him. _So says chapter seven, subchapter three of the _Military Academy Training Manual_. You're going to have to kill her anyways, so getting emotionally attached to her will make it hard on yourself. Besides, there's bound to be someone like her who's a Coordinator, so don't get so attached and lustful. Ignore your senses. Use your mind._

But both these feelings were all too strong for him. He flumped down on his bed, frustrated and tired. He didn't understand. How could you feel love and hate for the same person at the same time? He wanted answers, but all he got were more questions. The more he didn't want to become, he became. And the more he denied it, the more it grew.

* * *

Yeah! I'm done another chapter! I'll answer reviews close to when I'm done my next chapter. See you in another, oh, I'll guess three months…

And please tell me what you thought of that bomb part. I've actually never written anything in that category before...well, I guess I did once,but it was simple. So I've got near-zero experience. > 

-EmbeRin


	5. Act Five: Progression

The Play

Act Five: Progression

I'm BACK!

Anyways, this act's only a little earlier than usual because I couldn't write one of my other fics. This one actually features a few random song lyrics I wrote that have no music to them, but maybe I'll come up with some random tune. Thanks goes to my beta, KatYoukai for going through this chapter! (Kat, I've decided to take your advice on most of the capitals. I left some in, mostly for anger parts.)

EDIT (03.13.06) - I've decided to take the song lyrics I wrote for this chapter out, and have posted the lyrics on my old blogdrive account. I'll leave a link for it in my profile. Watch for it! Sorry about the inconvenience, but I just did it out of security. I'm sorry if the chapter feels jagged in places - that's where I had the song lyrics. I didn't really make an effort to fix them up well - my bad, if you didn't like that.

DISCLAIMER: I, EmbeRin, do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 70, February 14 

Room 20A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

The plot and script had been finalized, and the class was now on track. The scriptwriters turned into stage managers, telling the electricians and stage crew to move around, practising their movements with the actors. When they got breaks, the lead actors headed over to Lacus to practice their songs.

Thank goodness for Cagalli that she at least had a singing voice. _Poor Asuran, _she thought. _He has to stay in and miss all his recesses! I wish I could help him… but he'll do well with Lacus, if they got along. Why would Lacus not get along with anyone? She always does things for other people's sakes. _

Of course, that was stupid. Lacus was not that kind of person – she must be hiding something. _But why Asuran? Why is it that the lady that loves everyone hates the guy everyone else loves? What is this, irony or something? _But every time Lacus looked at them together, practicing their scripts, she would stare at Asuran. Did she like him?

Instantly, she felt a twinge of… anger? Why? She herself didn't like him. _No_, she didn't! She couldn't afford to, not now, not ever. Not even if the guy was drop-dead gorgeous with his raven hair and mysterious green eyes, no matter how they scared her. Not even if he was kind, courteous, polite, generous, determined, focused, great at sports, straight-A student… she sighed. He and Lacus just looked so well together too – why would she look better? Her, Cagalli Yula Athha, known here only as Kagari Clyne, with Asuran Yamato? Likely story.

"Kagari?"

"Huh?" It was Asuran.

"Do you want to go over our lines again? Just a clean read, and memorizing while we're at it. How about we start at the scene by the river?" Asuran asked her.

Perfect. Perhaps her most uncomfortable scene - the one where the two lovers Kali and Alexei find each other on the enemy side of the river. Asuran probably meant the scene after that too. Cagalli hated that scene. She had told Asuran (more like screamed at him), to Lacus, Miriallia, even Miss Ramius about her acting skills. But Miss Ramius had said that it was just customary, and no one expected a perfect job from them this way. Why not have a little fun with it?

But Cagalli had no time for… FUN! She was hiding from a criminal soldier type out to kill her, and for all she knew, it could be Asuran!

No, that was her radical mind. Why would it be him? That was a crazy thought. She couldn't even think of Asuran being the murderer. He was the one she thought least likely to be. Why would he save her if he wanted to kill her? Or does he have some crazy plan? No, that was unlikely. Why would it be him? He was too kind.

"Oh, Kali… why do you stand on the other side of the river?" Asuran started. "Are you not with me? How could this be with us?" He wore a pained, sorrowful expression on his face. He even had tears dripping down his face, and every single word was memorized, it put her to shame. A born actor, but couldn't sing a note. Wasn't it strange, one of them the actor, the other the singer? Together, they made one whole show. She glanced at her lines, in an attempt to memorize them, and tried to muster as much emotion as possible.

"Alexei! It gives me such sorrow that you are not with me, but you must be away on the other side? How will we remain together? In the land of neutrality, where we could be together, we were happy. But why has fate placed us on other sides of the river?"

She reached out, pretending her hand extended over a river. At the same time, Asuran reached out his. When they touched, Cagalli thought, she was supposed to pull back like she reached a barrier between them. But when their hands touched, she felt that feeling from the bomb fall again. And their hands clutched.

But it wasn't her.

Asuran had a look of shock on his face as he saw that he had grabbed her hand. Thank goodness they were in a corner of the classroom. He let go like he had grabbed hot metal, staring at his hand as if he had burned it. A light blush began to tint his cheeks. _He looks cute…_ Cagalli smiled.

"I'm… I'm sorry," he stammered. "I don't know what came over me. Shall we keep going?" She nodded.

"I long to feel your touch, but this is what keeps us apart. At least I can still see your beautiful face and hear your beautiful voice. If only you could be with me, you and I together forever. Kali, I love you – " Asuran paused for a second, trying to swallow his words as others who heard snickered, " – and I want to be with you, eternally."

Another glance at her lines. The song was right after this next line.

"Oh, but…"

Cagalli could feel them staring at her. She plunged into the song, filling it with as much emotion as she could. As she sang, she stumbled, pausing. _Shoot, what was the next line? _But she found the line, and continued with her heart and soul. The song flowed clearly off her tongue.

Cagalli heard Asuran clear his throat. They had to harmonize, but both he and she knew that he couldn't sing. Ah, well… she would have to cover him. She braced herself for the clash of melody and harmony.

But there were no lost tones, no squeaky notes. Every note was perfectly harmonized, each part sung with grace. Cagalli even heard people clapping for them both. Asuran was blushing slightly, smiling at his success. Cagalli smiled back. Lacus was standing next to her now, congratulating her.

"That was amazing! I loved it…"

"It was your words that gave it so much. The song wouldn't have happened without you."

The bell rang. Everyone gathered their belongings and headed out the door, to another room. It was surprising that the school had so readily reopened, when the lockers were still under reconstruction and people were still a little shocked. But then, this was ORB. People were very open and trusting.

From the other room she grabbed her lunch and drink, and waited for Miriallia, who was still in the room. Mir caught up and they began to talk about their usual stuff. Today's topic, in particular: pairings and crushes. After all, it _was_ Valentine's Day, the day of love. Cagalli started off today's banter.

"So, are you going to hit it off with Tolle?" Miriallia had always said she regretted telling Cagalli about her crush. She reddened at the words. But then, there was no need to conceal it – everyone knew that they liked either (or at least, the rumours said so), but neither of them were ready to admit it. According to Kelly, Tolle and Miriallia had been in the same class last year, but this year Mr. La Flaga taught him.

"Yeah, when?" Kelly jumped into their conversation. She had proven herself as a valuable friend to Cagalli, with her humour and wit. She, too, had a hatred of fake, unreal, or to put it bluntly, wannabe slut girls – namely Catalina, but "that Allster girl is just as bad." In this kind of situation, though, she could be a very kind friend and a good listener.

"I seriously have no clue. I don't know if he likes me."

"Oh, don't be stupid. He pretty much said it himself right in front of everyone. And he's the only one who can actually call you Milly. Face it, Mir, he likes you," Cagalli said, hoping to boost her friend's confidence. "Your fate is pretty much laid out for you – you just have to grab it while it's there, or it'll go away."

"Brave words for someone who hasn't faced a crush in the face," Kelly warned as she pushed open the door to the classroom.

"Well, that's because I haven't fallen for anyone yet."

"Oh really, Kagari?" A voice had followed them. The three of them turned to see Lacus, who had caught up with them. "They why do you keep making eyes or throwing glances at Asuran? How come your face always lights up when he walks by? You know, denial is merely a method that many people use to hide their secrets."

"… no… it's not true, I tell you! Really!" By the looks on their faces, Cagalli could tell that neither Kelly, Lacus or Miriallia believed her. "Anyways, it's the dance today. Are you going to ask Kira to dance, Lacus?"

"Kira doesn't like me. He likes… Flay Allster. There wouldn't be a reason that he liked me. And I'll respect that and not make fun of Flay for being what she is, because then I'd also be disrespecting Kira's taste." But one could tell Lacus didn't really mean what she said. To be nice, though, none of them commented on it.

* * *

Athrun overheard the last snatches of their conversation. _So Lacus doesn't think Kira likes her?_ If he could keep her worrying, then she'd stay out of the picture. And if Kira got worried too, then he'd knocked out two birds with one stone. Then he could concentrate on how he would get close to Athha's daughter, through Catalina. 

But… he knew he was jeopardizing the whole mission, all on his own. How could he have grabbed her hand like that? Even a normal love-ridden person wouldn't do that, and he was _not _love-ridden. What was it that drove him? Wanting to feel her flesh? To sense her in every one of his own senses? If he wasn't careful, he'd end up falling for her himself. And he hated to be proven wrong, especially by a figure like his father.

But why now? How come he just had to have his hormones kick in now? Before, he was prided on being able to express himself, but he was always in control. He always knew when to say what. How come it was when everything really counted that he had to have this happen to him? He hated himself for such a weakness.

"Kira."

He sat down next to his 'brother', took out his lunch, and started to eat. Kira turned, but he wasn't that surprised to see Athrun there.

"Kira, Lacus thinks you don't like her. Aren't you going to do something about it?"

Kira sighed, almost as though he knew about it. But he couldn't do anything about it. Not that he couldn't, no – but didn't want to. Did he love that Allster girl too? Personally, Athrun couldn't see what Kira saw in her, but it sure wasn't any of his business and he had no time for it anyways.

"Asuran, you have to help me," he began, in that brotherly plea way. Kira was a heck of a good actor. "I mean, I do like Lacus, you know that, but what can I say? I'm lost on what to do – because I also have a feeling for Flay, but I don't really know what it is. Yes, it's kind of like a thing a lot of people hate. They don't understand me. And they don't need to."

"Kira, she doesn't know you like her."

"What? I grabbed her hand! I'm worried for her. Like, Flay's always been there for me, even when I told her I liked Lacus. I don't like her in the same way. If only I could tell Lacus that it was true… she won't believe me. I always play with Flay, because I'm too scared to go up to Lacus. I've already said that I like her, but I never get a response. Why?"

"Easy. She doesn't believe it's true."

Athrun sighed. It was all he wanted, but he really did want to help Kira as well. Meddling in others' businesses has really taught him a lesson.

"Well, there's the dance this afternoon. You can try then…" After all, it was Valentine's Day, the day of love. Maybe both of them could score with a girl?

* * *

CE 70, February 14 

East Gym, Archangel Elementary, ORB

The dance was in full swing when 8R came to the gym. Outside, in the pit, student council members were selling their chips and pop. Pounding music resounded from the gym speakers, and people were around in corners, talking. That was one strange thing in Archangel: it was called a dance, but no one really danced.

Cagalli felt the beat of the driving song. She got together with all her friends and joined the ring of people jumping and clapping along with the rhythm. The song was contagious, and the ring grew larger, everyone moving with the melody. She could start feeling sweat drip down her hair. She grinned at Mir and Kelly who were on either side of her. They grinned as well.

All too soon for all of them, the song died away, and a slower one took its place. The circle dispersed, and everyone went to their own places. Cagalli went over with Kelly to the vent blowing out cool air. She felt the wind blow the perspiration that clung onto her neck. _Ah…_ she turned and looked at other people. Asuran sat at the gym corner with his brother. He seemed like he was waiting for something. Not wanting to look like she was staring, she turned away, but it was too late – Kelly had already seen.

"So, it's Asuran, isn't it?" she asked. Cagalli reddened. She smiled.

"Oh, I'm right, aren't I?" Kelly continued to probe. "The way you look at him, the way you reacted when he grabbed your hand – oh, I saw that," she said as Cagalli looked thoroughly terrified. "Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone. But you're lucky. It really looks like he likes you. I mean, you guys talk a lot, and you guys tease each other, and it looks cute."

Tease? Not really…

_"Hmm… that's a nice pen."_

_Cagalli fingered the pen that Asuran had in his pencilcase. It was math class, and they sat across from each other. Both of them had already finished their sheets. They weren't that hard for Cagalli. She got bored and decided to look in his pencilcase, pulling out a sleek metallic blue pen._

_"… give that back."_

_"Can I have it?"_

_"No."_

_"Can I try it out?"_

_"No, and give it back."_

_"… no, I want to keep it for a while."_

_Asuran grabbed back his pencilcase and picked up the thirty-centimetre ruler he had on his desk. Made of metal, he took it and prodded her with it. Now more interested in the ruler, Cagalli let go of the pen and grabbed the ruler, tugging at it. Wresting it out of Asuran's hands, she poked him as he tried to take it back. She stuck the cold metal on his neck, laughing as he squirmed. He was ticklish._

_"Seriously, give it BACK."_

_"No."_

_"… you're evil."_

_"… I know."_

She remembered that conversation. It just didn't seem… REAL. She just wanted to know him better, because he didn't talk all that much. Somehow, she knew something was lacking in that talk. And his mystery just made her want to get closer to him all the more, to know him all the better. How come? She had to be like this now? Fine, she'd admit it to herself now. She had a crush on this guy, who she would probably never meet again after the war.

"Teasing? Kelly, it was just some friend kind of thing. You know how open I am to new friends. That's all it is – we're friends. There is nothing going on between us. I swear." Cagalli noticed Kelly's sceptical look. It was all true, though! She'd have to turn him down anyways. She'd be too tempted to say who she really was.

"… yet. I bet you, Kagari, that when you get together with Asuran THIS VERY DANCE he will ask you to dance with him. You WILL accept." Kelly almost seemed certain of it.

"… humph. We'll see, Kelly, we'll see. I'll prove you wrong."

The song changed. It was slow. Cagalli loved this song. 'Tears' by KirinLisea. The duet always had the most beautiful lyrics. She could hear the whispers in regards to the song.

Cagalli could hear the delicate violin strings that bandmate Kirin played, perfectly in tune with Lisea's keyboard prowess. Lisea's soft, silken voice sang the first delicate line.

She saw couples get together, ask, their mouths barely moving, in the darkness saw them blush. Why dance to such a sad song?

Kirin's addition of his voice melded, giving strength to the lines of the pre-chorus. The chords grew louder as the piano notes slid back and forth.

The couples wrapped their arms around each other, and began to rotate on the spot to the slow beat. Cagalli also began to sink into the music, lost in her own fantasy: Asuran going up to her, asking her to dance. Herself blushing, accepting the offer, taking his hand. The feeling that had approached her once, returning again by the closeness of their bodies.

_Ah, shut up!_ Cagalli screamed at herself. _Yeah, you're not saying anything, but… argh, you know what I mean. I don't like him. Besides, I can't afford to._

**_But isn't love that thing that can transcend beyond physical borders? Societal boundaries? ANY restriction? You even said so yourself – you like this guy._**

Cagalli spotted Asuran in the corner, coming out the shadows, like he was going to approach her. He stepped closer. Cagalli felt herself turn red. What was it that was so attracting about him? Surely she didn't want him only out of lust?

"You had that kind of caring I needed," Cagalli sang softly to the lyrics. Kelly turned, slightly amused. Cagalli deliberately turned away, looking out on the dance floor. A head of pink caught her eye. _Lacus!_ Sure enough, there was her 'cousin', head resting on Kira's shoulder. Another interesting sight: Mir was with Tolle, but it looked like she was rejecting him. Why?

No time to think about it. She looked up.

Asuran was almost right beside her. She shuddered. Was he going to come to her? She looked in the other direction, fascinated by the wall.

Cagalli looked back at Asuran, or at least where he used to be. _He wasn't there?_ She looked around. There he was – with none other than Catalina. Catalina then looked at her. She smirked. Cagalli forced a smile, like it didn't matter. Why was she getting angry over something so stupid?

Now the violin got violent. The piano slammed the notes down as the two singers poured out their hearts in the bridge.

The song turns quiet. Lisea's voice can be heard, with only a soft piano background, the two voices combining for the last word.

As the song died away, the people dancing broke off. Cagalli couldn't stand to see Catalina with her arms around Asuran. She looked away, closing her eyes. Why did she care at all? She wouldn't let herself care about it. She would force herself to look at it, she would put a true honest smile on her face, she would even go tease and be friends with Catalina. She would do anything, just to get rid of that feeling of jealousy. If Asuran was happy, then it's not her problem she was sad.

But she couldn't take it. Aware of her own selfish desire, she shook out her now dry blonde hair and walked right out of the gym door, not to enter again for the rest of the dance.

* * *

CE 70, February 14 

Archangel Elementary, ORB

"Kira, I'll be coming back home later. Go on ahead, okay?" Athrun said to his 'brother' on the right side of him at lockers. Kira, at the moment, was buried in his locker, struggling to get out his math binder. He nodded, head still stuck in the locker. Athrun finished off packing his science folder into his red and black backpack and went around the corner of the hall. He stopped.

There was Athha's daughter, flushed, in a hurry, crouched at the bottom of her locker. Lacus was nowhere in sight – he assumed that she was doing choir material elsewhere. He slowly approached her, trying to make as little noise a possible, which was easy for someone who was military-trained in stealth. Soon enough, he stood right beside her. Noticing the shadow he cast over her, she looked up. She glared. _Why?_

"Uh… hey." How come he sounded so uncertain? What did that glared do to him? IT wasn't fear of her. How come it made him feel… guilty?

"Hey." The voice sounded cold, unfeeling. It didn't sound like her at all. What made her all mad? She hadn't fallen for anyone, she said so herself. Why get mad at him? She turned away, back to her binders.

"… I have a favour to ask of you, if you'll allow me." How come he couldn't seem to ask her? But at the same time, he just wanted to grab her and hold her in his arms for no reason at all. Athha's daughter looked up when he asked her.

"What?"

"Will… I mean, can…" How come she couldn't talk? "May… no, will you… dance…?" He extended a hand. She stared at it, like she was confused, like she didn't know what she was being asked of. Her eyes moved up to meet his, boring into him, searching for something. What it was, she wouldn't tell. He looked off into the distance.

Then, ever so slowly, he felt a hand slip into his outstretched one. Slowly, carefully. Watching his every move. She rose up. Uncertainty danced in her eyes. Would this person lead her in the circle of the dance? To be honest, he didn't know himself. His body had spun out of his mind's control.

He felt her arms lightly wrap around his waist, softly, not sure of their actions. His hands rested themselves on her shoulders.

"Sorry there's no music," he heard himself say.

"No problem." Athha's daughter fished out an MP3 player from her pocket. She offered him an earphone. He placed it in, catching a soft melody. Sensing a calm song, he smiled. They began to move in a circle, nimbly dodging the things in her locker space. His hands, on her clothes, felt the softness, draping themselves over her shoulders. The mould her arms made around his waist fit snugly.

"You like the song?" she asked, looking into his eyes. He nodded, even though he didn't know the song.

How long did they spend like that? Just holding each other in a half-embrace in the hall… somehow, he got a look at his watch. It was three-fifty. He distinctly remembered there was something important that he had to do, but what was it? Oh yeah, he remembered. A call from his father –

A CALL FROM CHAIRMAN ZALA.

Oh, shoot.

"… I'm sorry. I have to go," he said, a little too abruptly. The magic of the moment shattered as both of them let go of each other. Picking up the backpack he had placed on the floor, he turned around and walked away, leaving Athha's daughter in the hall.

* * *

CE 70, February 14 

Clyne Household, ORB

"… why did you do it?"

Cagalli was on the phone with Mir, discussing the day's events. Lacus, in the room next door, was also on the phone. Lying on her bed, Cagalli pushed Mir on the subject of the dance's happenings, in particular, why Mir wouldn't dance with Tolle. It was the talk of the class in the few minutes after the dance at the end of the day.

"I – I don't know. I just didn't feel like dancing."

"WHY NOT?"

"… Kagari, give her some space. She's going through a tough time at the moment," Lacus reprimanded. Cagalli herself took a few deep breaths. Still, everyone knew they liked each other, so how come it wouldn't work out? Cagalli thought of Mir as the type to be bold with her feelings. Why not with Tolle?

_Come on. Love can't be all the weakening giant it's all cut out to be._

"I… I don't know if I can believe him anymore. He jokes along with all those jokes that he doesn't like me. Does he really expect that I can still believe him?" Mir's voice sounded worried, fretful. "Do you think that I should have given him another chance?"

Cagalli thought about herself. Did she really like Asuran? Or was it just a temporary phase of life she was going through? And then she thought of the dance she had with him that afternoon. What had that meant to her? Or to him? He expects that after he had danced with Catalina, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER, that she could believe he had really wanted to dance with her too? And could she afford to? She had to keep her identity a secret…

Of course, this thought had only just occurred to her. Before, she was just too absorbed in that feeling, the one of that half-embrace limbo. She didn't need to have her body next to his to feel him. Even with the space between them, she had felt him near her…

"I got homework to do. Talk to you later, Mir, 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure. See you, Kagari."

Cagalli put her head in her hands.

She really had gone in deep, hadn't she?

* * *

CE 70, February 14 

Yamato Household, ORB

"Athrun, I hope you are away re that one-quarter of your time in ORB is already gone. It is time to initiate your plan, or you will never kill that Athha's daughter." Patrick Zala's imposing face flickered on the secret ZAFT link in the Yamatos' basement. Athrun faced the image.

"Yes, sir. I believe that the time is right to begin phase two. I shall inform Jule and Elsman about the move."

"Very well. Remember _not_ to tell any other council members about your mission. Zala, out."

The screen closed, Athrun's father's image vanishing. He shivered – the basement was cold. But it had to keep the machinery running. He stared around at the cold, foreboding metal walls. The place gave him bad feelings, so he didn't want to linger in the place. He left the room, locking it with the secure fingerprint-number-eye scan combination.

He wondered about today's 'Asuran' performance. Did Athha's daughter believe him when he 'wanted' to dance with her? Did he sound sincere enough, interested enough? How come she had seemed mad at him? Unless… she saw him dancing with Catalina? But he thought she didn't! Now on top of getting her to be his girl, he had to convince her that he didn't like Catalina…

Athrun spent the next little while, as he walked to his bedroom, wondering about how everything was coming together. All the opportunities he had planned for them to get together were working, but he had planned them too well. He was starting to fall in the same hole he was digging.

_No!_ he thought. _This is for Mother! And all those other people who died because of hatred. This is in the memory of the Junius-7 explosion! I cannot allow their souls to not be avenged! These feelings come second to my loyalty to ZAFT! How could I ever let myself think this way!_

However, he could still remember the feeling of the Athha girl, Cagalli, and her arms around him.

Why?

* * *

Well, I realized that this chapter is actually quite personal, because several different events that happened to different characters in the chapter actually happened to me. Yeah, it's kind of late for a Valentine dance, considering that was a month ago, but I had to write it in somehow. Only my friends out of would probably be able to pick out what really happened, though… 

And don't forget to check out the version with song lyrics! It's on my profile.

Until June, I guess!

-EmbeRin


	6. Act Six: Conflict

The Play

Act Six: Conflict

Lately I feel my writing is not very good, so I'm sorry if this act sucks. I've definitely been distracted and am going through a lot in terms of attempts to improve my characterization. Once again, I'm truly sorry.

And again, I thank KatYoukai for being my beta. You're such an encouraging person.

DISCLAIMER: I, EmbeRin, do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will, so don't sue me.

* * *

CE 70, March 7 

Room 19A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

"Miss Kagari Clyne, no matter how good your history marks may be, I will not tolerate your lazing around in class!" Miss Badgiruel rapped her pen on Cagalli's table. Said blonde had been gazing around the classroom, her eyes often pausing on a certain raven-haired boy across the room every so often. It wasn't her fault that Asuran was on her mind a lot lately. He'd been helping her around so much, though she still didn't see why he did it.

Now, though, she was brought to attention by the short-haired, purse-lipped teacher.

Cagalli boldly stared at Miss Badgiruel. Inside, though, she had gone quite numb – _Miss Badgiruel caught me… it'll be my third detention in two weeks… crap _– but, in usual Cagalli-style, she wasn't about to admit it. However, she did brace herself for whatever torturous deeds the history teacher planned on giving her.

"That will be your third detention in two weeks, Miss Clyne," Miss Badgiruel said sternly to Cagalli. "I suggest you do NOT provoke me any further. I will not have you acting unproductively in my classroom, and I do not care about how much of ORB's history you may already know. I expect to see you at morning recess."

As Miss Badgiruel strode back to her desk, Cagalli could feel the eyes staring at her. So what if she already knew everything Miss Badgiruel taught? It wasn't her fault she had extensive knowledge of ORB's history. She had learned what they were taught in high school when she was nine. Even with the AXIS system, she had learned beyond high school level.

She looked over at Asuran again, who snickered slightly.

"Mister Yamato, was that you?" Miss Badgiruel's sharp voice penetrated through the quiet atmosphere, once again catching the class's undivided attention. Then again, this was Miss Natarle Badgiruel. No one's attention was divided when she wanted them to listen. Now they all turned to Asuran, to see what fate awaited him.

"It seems that you, Mister Yamato, also have an affinity for detentions. You will be spending your morning recess with me as well." She raised her voice, declaring, "And anyone else caught goofing off in this classroom will be joining Miss Clyne and Mister Yamato. As for said students, I suggest you take heed of my warning. I have been more than lenient enough with you. Next time you decide to pull off such stunts, it will be the principal's office. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," the class mumbled.

At that moment, the bell rang. Everyone grabbed their belongings and filed out of the classroom. Cagalli did her best to disappear in the crowd with everyone else – after being scolded by Miss Badgiruel again, it wouldn't be good to be so noticed. However, Lacus slid over to where her 'cousin' was and tapped her on the shoulder.

"You can't go on always getting in trouble, you know," she said quietly as the two of them slid to the back of the group. "I'm having enough trouble keeping Father from pulling you out of the school as it is. If he hears of this, well, you know what happens."

"But I can't help it if all her classes are repeats of things I learned ages ago," Cagalli whined. "It's not my fault people are after me. It's not my fault if I'm the prin – " She stopped at Lacus's indication to be quiet. "You know what I mean. I'm an open person. I don't really have the capacity to hide my feelings."

The two of them reached the science classroom, room 13A, where Mr. La Flaga taught. Mr. La Flaga was easily the most enthusiastic teacher Cagalli had met in Archangel, and he made science classes entertaining, sort of. He gave out large amounts of projects, but many tests. The good thing was that he was also the easiest marker of the three grade eight teachers.

"Everybody here?" he asked as Cagalli and Lacus walked into the classroom. He poked his head into the hall and was about to close the door when Kira and Asuran walked in. Closing the door after the two, he sat down at his desk at the front of the room. On the blackboard behind him were written the words 'Living Earth'.

"Now, would anyone like to guess what our new unit is?" he asked the class. "Anyone? Going once, going twice…"

* * *

CE 70, March 7 

Room 13A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

The bell for recess rang. Everyone quickly put away their textbooks and binders away, eager to get a breath of fresh air. Cagalli was one of these people. She immediately jammed her pencils into her pencilcase and went out the door, turning left. She was about to walk down the hall, but someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Asuran.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked, though he may as well have said those words to no one in particular.

Cagalli was close enough to him to see every detail in his emerald green eyes. She couldn't tell why, but they were exactly the same as that man's down to every speck. Wouldn't that be impossible? Weren't eyes all different? Even though her mind knew this, her memories tried to tell her otherwise…

_The gun was pointed between her eyes. She stared at it in shock, not daring to take a look at her mother's prone body, though she assumed that there would be a pool of blood around it._

_"Now, you'll be a good little girl, right?" the man said quietly, staring at Cagalli all the while. He moved closer and closer, until the gun was on her forehead and their faces were so close Cagalli could see the green eyes very clearly. They were a strange green colour, like the colour of the gem on her mother's ring._

_Cagalli nodded dumbly._

_"That's a good girl," the main continued. "Goodbye…"_

"Kagari?"

Cagalli snapped back to the present. How odd… she had never remembered that incident before. Why would she remember it now? Those eyes… Asuran's eyes were exactly the same. _Maybe… maybe he's the man. In disguise. He's come to finish the job… he's going to kill me. _Cagalli shrank away from Asuran's hand.

"Kagari, come on. We're going to be late," Asuran continued.

"S-stay away from me!" Cagalli almost yelled.

"Kagari, what's wrong? It's just me!"

"Just… who?" Cagalli snapped out of her daze again. Blinking, she saw Asuran looking at her, arm slightly outstretched, face expressing shock. _Shoot, I've done it again… _Cagalli supposed she'd have to finally explain it all to him. _Yeah, right. Like he'd ever believe me… he'd think I was crazy._

"Sorry," Cagalli began.

"N-no, it's okay…" Asuran replied unsteadily.

"No, really," Cagalli continued. "It's just that… when I was four I saw my mom – " she choked slightly, then continued, "well, die in front of my eyes, and it hurt me a lot. They never found who killed her. And the guy who killed her… he stared at me before he left. He had emerald green eyes." She shuddered, to add emphasis to her point.

"… so you don't like green eyes?" Asuran finished.

"It – they just trigger bad memories. I just wanted you to know after all that I've said and done to you. I thought you would deserve to know." Cagalli turned away. She was a little scared that it would give too much away about her, but Asuran seemed nice. He couldn't be someone trying to kill her. He saved her.

"You don't like talking about it, do you?" Asuran said out of the silence. "No one would. It's okay. You don't have to tell me more." He looked at his watch. "Oh, no… we're two minutes late. Miss Badgiruel'll skin us alive this time." He started away, but Cagalli grabbed his arm, telling him to slow down.

"Why do you always get in detention laughing at me?" she asked him. "It's almost like you're doing it on purpose. Are you trying to mock me or something?"

"Oh, Kagari, you give yourself too much credit," Asuran replied, grinning. "But if that's what you think, I'm fine with that." He smiled, almost smirking. "I just like being around. Somehow, it makes me fell so much more… _lively._ I hope it's not too much trouble to be hanging out with a guy… hope it doesn't ruin your reputation."

Oh, that Yamato got on her nerves.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cagalli replied roughly, flinging Asuran's arm (which she was still holding at the time) away from her and storming off down the hall alone with a childish look of anger on her face. Perhaps it was better that it were so, as Asuran couldn't help but laugh as she stomped towards detention. She could hear him.

* * *

CE 70, March 7 

Onogoro Park, ORB

"Zala," Yzak said as he sat on the edge of the fountain at the centre of Onogoro Park, "we've been meeting for a full month since the last incident, and we've got no orders. I'm sick and tired of masquerading as some stupid little boy who can't add one plus one, let alone do my own homework. I'm almost fifteen and I've passed all their standards already. Get it over with so I can go home and not stay at this wretched place."

"Are you trying to sign my note to jail, Isaac?" Athrun replied coolly, using Yzak's code name, possibly to point out the fact that Yzak did not use Athrun's. "Keep your voice down." Athrun sighed. Yzak was like a hopeless case. There really wasn't anything he could do to douse the temper of his, or else he supposed Dearka may have already used it.

Their little group never seemed to get along.

"Well, Asuran, as much as I agree with you, Isaac here – " Dearka began, snickering at 'Isaac', " – does have a point. I don't particularly like this place either… there aren't many hot chicks here. Oh, well… this is ORB. I can't expect the best here." He shrugged. "Are you going to move on with the plan or what? Somehow, I doubt your ability to flirt."

"Don't worry, Dark," Athrun replied, using Dearka's code name. "Everything will fall into place in due time."

"I'm tired of your excuses, _Yamato_," Yzak fumed, stressing the last word. "We all know that you don't have a lot of time, so just get it over with and leave. We also risk exposing ourselves at this rate!" He glared with his icy eyes at their group leader. Athrun himself was trying to remain calm and focused and resisting the urge to scream at Yzak.

"A good plan needs patience," said Athrun smoothly. "It'll work fine, believe me – although I suppose it's redundant to say that because I know you won't. I'll have her eating right out of the palm of my hand. Though I suppose since it's been a month since the last incident, we can pull off phase two of the plan… if you're that desperate for something to do."

"Hmph!" Yzak turned away angrily.

"Now, now, Isaac…" Dearka tried, but to no avail. Yzak got off the edge of the fountain and stormed off, turning back once to yell at Athrun.

"I know what to do, so don't bother me!" was what he said.

Athrun and Dearka stood there, watching Yzak shrink as he strode away down the stone-paved path, vanishing behind the trees. A few moments of quiet settled on the two of them. Athrun took this opportunity to observe the large fountain, with a centrepiece of gold and silver. The symbol was a rose. _I wonder why?_

"… I'd better go after him before he does something stupid," Dearka commented, shrugging. "I suggest you tread lightly around him, Yamato. Once he gets mad enough he does anything to get what he wants, and I mean anything. He'll bring down the mission, even." He turned to leave, but not without inserting one last comment.

"That could spell tragedy for your girl."

With a flick of hand, Dearka casually strolled off, along the same path as Yzak.

_My girl?_

_MY girl?_

Athrun shuddered. The idea of 'having' a girl was just downright scary… well, maybe not scary, but not something he'd consider any time soon. It was just distracting him from his mission, his first mission. Murder would not be, and should not be, treated lightly. One change of heart, and it was all gone.

So then how come 'my girl' sounded so attractive a thought?

He tried to come up with several ways to deflect this kind of thinking, but in the end only came up with one.

Blatant denial.

* * *

CE 70, March 8 

School Grounds, Archangel Elementary, ORB

Cagalli had gotten to school early that day, as Lacus had wanted to get with the choir before school to practise. Miriallia had always said that it was the best time to take pictures. After seeing it for herself, she couldn't help but agree with her photographer friend. The sun behind the school building shone a few faint rays onto the dew-drenched field, giving it just that look of mystery and fantasy, like the faerie world of those stories one would read when one was small, complete with fantasy-like love stories of magic.

Speaking of which, it seemed like there were two people out on the field now… but who would be here this early? Mir was the only one who came to mind, but why would she be with someone else? Cagalli tried to study the silhouette. It wasn't anyone in her class, though it looked very familiar. Like she had always seen this person with Miriallia…

Tolle!

_That's right,_ Cagalli thought. _Mir and Tolle are supposedly a couple, although after the dance I don't know how the heck Mir survived the scrutiny from the incident. But it doesn't hurt for me to just listen in on a little… right? _She walked closer to the two figures, careful to remain out of sight as she ducked behind a tree at the edge of the field where they stood.

"Milly," a voice said.

_Yep, that's Tolle's voice, from what I've heard before anyways._

"There… there's something I have to tell you. I want to tell you… tell you how I feel about you. I'm pretty sure you already know what I mean, but I want to say it anyway." By the sound of it, Tolle had all the words rehearsed. "I… I really care about you, Milly. I really like you. And I was hoping that there could really be something between us."

Cagalli held her breath. The declaration was out! She had it all in her head – Miriallia would confess her undying love, wracked with tears, and fall into Tolle's waiting arms. It screamed sappy and only ever happened like that in movies, but Cagalli had really been absorbed by the spirit of the class play. She got into things with Cagalli-style enthusiasm like that.

"Tolle, I do agree that there is something between us," Miriallia began.

_I don't like the tone of her voice…_

"I just don't think it's what you want."

_Ouch._

"It's not that you're a bad person. You know I don't think that of you. You have a great personality. It's just that I never viewed you as that kind of person to me. You were the one I could talk to and you'd understand the things I talked about unlike anyone else. Just that I didn't see you as anything else."

Cagalli stood frozen in her place. For Tolle, that must have hurt a lot. She could only imagine what he was going through, but although she wanted to help, going would mean that she would be discovered eavesdropping. And to lose one of her most important friends would be bad for her.

"Milly, you just don't like me, don't you?" Tolle accused. "You probably listened to me, stayed with me, all out of pity. Just admit I'm right and get it over with," he said scathingly. It sounded harsh, at least from what Cagalli could hear. She was pretty sure, though, that Mir didn't mean it that way.

"Tolle, I just don't think it would work!" Miriallia exclaimed, quite unlike her. "You have your planes, and I have my photos. We're both absorbed in our own doings half the time and I think that we'd both miss out on the things we could do together. You're a great person, Tolle, and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise, but can't you see that I'm doing this for both our sakes?"

There was silence. Nothing but the soft sounds of the choir singing 'Lament of Alexei' could be heard. It seemed to settle around them, casting its tragic sound into the air. Cagalli felt like she was in a movie where she had reached the dramatic climax, only that the ending wouldn't be a happy one.

"If… if that's the way you feel about it…" Tolle began. "Why can't we just give this a chance? We'll never know if we don't try, right?"

"I just know it won't work," Miriallia replied. It sounded as though she were on the verge of tears. "I don't want you to have to go through what happens when you realize it doesn't. It's because I care about you so much that I'm protecting you from what's to come…" She trailed off.

"I see," Tolle said slowly.

_Phew,_ Cagalli thought. _He kind of understands…_

"You're just scared, Mirallia," he continued. "You're not doing this for me. You're using me as a shield for why you're really doing this. You're not scared for what will happen to me. You never were. Everything, ever since we met, ever since we talked together, was all for your own sake – is that what you're trying to say?"

"No, that's not what I mean – "

"It's okay, Milly. I'll wait until you're ready. I understand that this is probably a shock to you, so I can wait. I'll wait until you stop thinking up your excuses and can accept my love wholeheartedly. I won't force it on you," Tolle said. "Just keep that in mind. I'm ready… if you are."

Poking her head out slightly from behind the tree, Cagalli saw Tolle walk away from Miriallia, the grass swishing underneath his feet. It was still early – by her watch there was still half an hour left until the morning bell rang. Taking advantage of Miriallia's state, she snuck out from around her hiding place and was going to go inside the school to where the choir sang. But before she opened the door to the school, she spotted a raven-haired boy with two others, one with straight silver hair, the other with curly blond hair.

_Was that Asuran…?

* * *

_

CE 70, March 8

School Grounds, Archangel Elementary, ORB

"I take it your marksmanship is good?" Athrun asked Yzak and Dearka, who planned to execute the next step of Athrun's plan that morning. The two of them would have to skip classes for this, and though Dearka had a reputation for constantly flirting with the ladies, they both had good grades. A period or two wouldn't be too much of a problem.

"If I could, I would shoot you right now," Yzak spat. "That good enough marksmanship for you?"

"Don't mind him," Dearka said lightly. "He's only mad you picked marksmanship to pick on in particular. All the other subjects in the military academy, you beat him by at least five marks, but in marksmanship he lost to you by only one." By Yzak's scowl Athrun judged Dearka's words to be quite true.

"We all understand the plan, right?" Athrun called sternly, returning order to the trio – or at least trying to. "Very well. I suppose you can remain in the area, though be sure to not let yourselves be seen. There's nothing like a couple of high school delinquents in the area to get the neighbours riled up."

"Yeah, we'll be perfect little angels," Yzak sneered. "Go on now, _Yamato._ We won't do any harm here. But mark my words – " at this he made a wringing motion with his hands, " – you will pay dearly for making me endure this useless treatment." With that, he and Dearka, who was still chuckling, turned and left the school grounds by a paved path.

Athrun consulted his watch. There was still half an hour left until the morning bell rang. He might as well head in for the time being… Lacus and her choir were practising, and much as he wanted to stay away from her, his singing ability was near zero. He still needed practise.

As he headed for the door, how odd that he saw Athha's daughter looking at him. She seemed to have been doing that for a while…

_Did she see Yzak and Dearka?

* * *

_

CE 70, March 8

Room 20A, Archangel Elementary, ORB

Cagalli sat down for Math class, first period in the morning. She glanced at Asuran diagonal from her. He was immersed in his textbook, studious as usual. Maybe that was why he was getting all those good marks. _But he still takes the time to bug me around… not that I'm not doing the same thing to him._

Miss Ramius walked into the classroom, a stack of papers in her hand. Cagalli instantly knew what they were – last week's tests. Math wasn't Cagalli's strong part, but she was still pretty good. She'd probably do okay… everyone else seemed to think those were last week's tests as well, and an immediate buzz sprang up in the classroom.

"Yes, these are last week's tests," Miss Ramius said, obviously having overheard someone talking. "I'll be handing them out on your desks. And I don't want to hear any 'What'd you get, what'd you get'," she added, glaring at the class, although both sides knew that the class would do so anyway.

Cagalli's test was put on her desk. Miriallia peered over, but Cagalli instinctively hid it from her. She should be the first to see her marks, not anyone else. When she first got here, she wasn't used to using test marks to compare herself against someone, but given a month and Cagalli jumped into the fray.

She looked down at the paper. Eighty-nine percent, the paper said in bold red pen. Not that bad, though she could have done better. Some of her mistakes were careless. Seeing that Miriallia had gotten her test back, Cagalli offered to trade tests with her. Miss Ramius was still handing tests out to others.

"So, what'd you get on your test, Kagari?" Asuran asked in a slightly teasing tone. _Hmph. Just because he always gets better marks than me doesn't mean he has the right to tease me about it. _Asuran always asked her this question, and she always demanded he answer first. So, as tradition decreed, she did so.

Asruan smirked, holding up his paper.

One hundred percent.

* * *

Athrun never got enough of the look on that Athha girl's face every time he showed her his perfect scores. Of course, he had to slip in a mistake every so often – he didn't want people to think that he'd already graduated from university, and although that was true, it'd give too much away from him. 

"So what did you get?" he asked innocently.

Athha's daughter grumbled. "… eighty-nine percent…"

"Oh, that's not that bad," Athrun laughed. Ha! He just loved seeing her angry. The reaction was hilarious. It had been a while since he showed his true feelings. He had to suppress his hate for ORB and its ignorant people, but he could openly laugh about Athha's daughter.

But what was it he laughed about? All he wanted to do was make her notice him, get her impressed so she would like him. It was all in the name of the mission. For ZAFT, his country, his home. For his mother, in the name of her memory. And for his father, in the hopes that the end of the war would bring his old self back.

So why, then, did it feel like he wanted her to be 'his girl'?

Of course, his mind immediately came with the technical answer: as he was growing his hormones would start causing him to react to people of the opposite gender, no matter how unappealing their personality may be. It was only nature's way of getting the human population to reproduce, although the media glorified it and made women into sex toys.

But Athrun couldn't let the feeling go. In the military, the soldiers were trained to disregard any emotion, but never being exposed to this kind of feeling, Athrun never found out how to block himself from it. His class had been entirely guys, and they all either tried to suck up to him or beat him up because he was the chairman's son. No one displayed any true care or affection for him.

"… Asuran?" Miss Ramius's voice penetrated through his thoughts. "Would you care to give the answer to the question?" Athrun knew this was a test to see if he was listening. Unfortunately, he was not in the slightest, so he had no clue whatsoever as to what the question was.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"At least you understand the consequence of your actions," the teacher replied. "Very well, class – please get your textbooks open to page 355 and work on questions one to thirty-five for the rest of the period. Any questions that are not completed in class will be done as homework." At once, Lacus, the homework board manager, slid out of her seat to add this information to the blackboard.

As he opened his textbook, he felt something vibrate in his pocket. He knew it was the slim machine he had placed there earlier this morning. He didn't have any time to lose.

"Kagari, DUCK!"

* * *

A moment after Cagalli ducked, and not a moment too late. 

A knife came whizzing over her head after crashing through the window next to her in a diagonal direction so that Asuran also had to duck. The shattered glass landed on their desk group as the knife buried itself into the wall behind Asuran, its presence remaining ever known as the sound of its metal wobbled through the air.

Cagalli, staring at the blade, was completely in shock. She did not notice that she, along with Sai, had just been showered in glass. She did not notice that her hand began to bleed as she blindly searched for her pencil. All she saw was the knife and how close it had come to burying itself in her head. Pictures passed of an exploding head, spewing blood all over the floor and exposing the insides of said head almost made her retch.

"Oh my goodness…" Miss Ramius began, temporarily overcome by shock. Then her sense kicked in. Grabbing the phone off the wall she immediately called the emergency medical services and the office, all the while fretfully looking over at the table, silently cursing the service on the phone because it was so slow.

Cagalli noticed none of these things.

Miriallia tried to snap her friend out of it. She shook her shoulder, waved her hands in front of her face, clapped and made other noises, and even pinched her. However, Cagalli's eyes remained transfixed in a stare at the blade that stuck out of the wall, next to a picture of a blond-haired girl. Like an omen.

She felt herself sinking into despair. Was someone really after her life? Lacus's father would hear of this, and he would surely pull her out of the school. That was what she feared the most. She didn't want to leave. Leaving simply made her easier to trace. The Clyne mansion wasn't lavish, but it didn't offer protection in numbers.

She didn't want to leave.

"… Kagari? Kagari…"

Kagari? Who was… that was right, she was Kagari, she told herself. Who was calling her, then?

"Kagari!"

"What?" she replied irritably, turning to see who it was.

It was Asuran.

He was looking at her in an odd way. He didn't smile or offer a hand, but she could tell he wanted to help. It was all in his eyes – how they glinted, how the thoughts behind them swirled around this strange layer of mist. For a moment, Cagalli forgot about the emerald hue and tried to see what was beyond.

But she got nothing.

Who was this Asuran, then? What was he hiding from her?

"Glad to see you're still okay," Asuran continued. "Miriallia was waving her hands around and shaking you, but you kept on looking at the knife as though it killed someone. At least you're not in shock any more." He paused. "Though it wouldn't hurt to check. Are you cold?" Cagalli shook her head.

"Good," he said, and kept on going with his examination like a doctor to a patient, checking her breathing and her pulse. When he held her hand, she felt a tingle that lingered for a long time no matter how much she tried not to think of it. All the while, he remained close to her, so close she could constantly feel his presence.

Miss Ramius came over after phoning the authorities, looking flustered and alarmed, completely unlike the teacher they knew. After checking that everyone was okay, she ushered them out of the classroom and into the hallway so they could evacuate the school. As they exited, the PA system was announcing the evacuation.

All the while, Asuran stayed by Cagalli.

He comforted her, told her everything was going to be all right. For some reason, his voice comforted her. It gave a feeling of closure, of assuring authority. Cagalli knew that he was right. There was still that odd feeling, though. How come his eyes were so empty of happy emotions? How come everything was veiled under a mist of anger?

She wanted to reach out to him too.

On the other side of Cagalli, Miriallia was also worrying. She turned to Cagalli, hoping they could talk together. Cagalli now felt the guilt of listening in that morning, but she couldn't take back what she did now. She got the feeling that that was what she wanted to talk about.

"Kagari…" she began. "This is turning into the worst day of my life! Everything is going so bad. There's this weird knife and now we're being evacuated…" She trailed off, for the second time that day. "I think you should know this too," she added quietly. "But I'm burdening you and you're the one who almost died, not me…"

Cagalli shook her head. "No, it's okay. What's wrong?"

Mirallia cupped a hand around her ear.

"I… I said no to Tolle…"

* * *

Bad ending, but if I didn't cut it off I would have gone on for ages. I couldn't find a good cut-off point. Sorry again, guys. But I thank you for still taking the time to read this! 

-EmbeRin


	7. Act Seven: Intermission

The Play

Act Seven: Intermission

(Revised since first post. ri-kun, you brought up a good point, so I changed the family scene a little. Though now I'm scared it doesn't flow so well.)

DISCLAIMER: I, EmbeRin, do not own the characters of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and never will.

* * *

CE 70, March 8 

Yamato Household, ORB

"Athrun. Tell me what's going on. Now."

Kira stared at his 'brother' from across the gap between their two beds, his gaze adamant. The day's events had not gone smoothly for him. Of course, he knew Athrun was behind it – first the bomb, now a knife – but that didn't explain for what reason he executed them. Frankly, he was surprised that even his parents hadn't asked the chairman's son as to what sort of disastrous plan he had in mind.

However, even if Kira was determined to get the answer from Athrun, it didn't appear that he was going to get it from the tight-lipped soldier any time soon.

"Like I've said, Kira, I can't tell you," Athrun replied calmly, as the other boy's temper began to build.

"Why? Why can't you? What is so important about this mission that you've been going around hurling knives and setting bombs? You're putting the lives of innocents in danger! There are so many things that could have gone wrong with what you did today – "

"Then let's be glad that nothing did, right?" Athrun interjected, in a forced tone.

"That's not the point!"

"Then what, Kira, is? Do you think that I don't know about what could go wrong? Maybe you just don't know what it is to bear the guilt of having killed someone with your own two hands. You have no idea what I have ever gone through." Athrun shook his head. "No, it's not right to blame you. Maybe it's the blissfully ignorant world you live in…"

Kira stared at the expressions crossing his friend's face. No, maybe he really didn't know about the world around him. His parents were of ZAFT, yet he had lived in ORB all his life and never questioned anything. Was he in the wrong? Or was he going to stop Athrun from what he believed was the right thing to do?

"… just know, Athrun, that the knife through the window today could have caught Kagari on the head." With that, Kira turned away, immersing himself in the closest piece of homework he had strewn on his bed. Athrun was about to tell him that doing his homework on his bed was bad for his spine, but the foul mood surrounding Kira just told him to back off.

Kira wasn't angry at Athrun. He just felt… so left out. Whenever his parents spoke of missions, Kira wouldn't be told a thing, just that not to tell anyone and occasionally to pass certain notes to certain people. Was he a liability in the household? Was he too normal a boy to be in the family? He had grown up in such a carefree world that he never questioned the need to feel wanted.

But a life was life, and no one had the right to take it from someone else. Why did he get the feeling that Athrun was here to kill someone?

Kira decided that it was much more prudent to worry about his math homework.

* * *

After an unusually quiet dinner, Athrun excused himself from the table and was about to leave for the basement when heard a voice say, "Just where do you think you're going, young man?"

It took Athrun a few moments to recognize that Mrs. Yamato was talking to him. "Huh? Oh, I have to go talk to the chairman..."

"Don't you dare skimp out on washing the dishes tonight. Everyone has to do their part."

"It's my turn tonight?" Athrun didn't remember that. "Isn't it tomorrow?"

Mrs. Yamato crossed her arms. "That excuse won't work on me. Ask Kira - he tried it once already, and he can tell you what happened." At the sound of his mother's words, Kira winced. Athrun decided that the punishment was cruel and painful and decided not to prod into it any further. He probably wouldn't like to hear it.

"Dear, you know that Athrun might really have just forgotten," Mr. Yamato said calmly. "He's a very responsible boy, from what I've seen."

"Oh, yes, that's true. I think Kira could take after him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kira interrupted, annoyed. A glance from Mrs. Yamato quickly made his temper die down.

After a short moment's deliberaton, Mr. Yamato said, "All right. Here's what I propose. Athrun washes the dishes tonight, but Kira will help him with them, seeing as he's planned his night without the dishes."

"But I have math homework!" Kira exclaimed. "And it's about fifty pages of text work and it's all due tomorrow and Miss Ramius will kill me if I don't have it done - " Another glance from his mother, and it was evident that Kira thought his mother was the larger threat.

"In return," Mr. Yamato continued, as though none of that had happened, "Kira can call on Athrun at any time to do the dishes with him, no matter how busy Athrun is. Is that fair?"

"I think that's fair," Athrun agreed. He might as well take the offer before it gets worse. Turning to Kira, he saw him grudgingly agree, mumbling something along the lines of 'math' and 'gonna die'. He was in quite a negative mood and Athrun wasn't that inclined to bother him at that moment by saying that the homework was easy and that Kira wasn't as bad at math as he said he was.

Athrun liked the systematic way the Yamato family worked; they were quick to reach decisions, but still took the time to listen to each other first. He thought back to his own family, so tattered and distant. Without his mother, the relationship between him and his father had changed so much…

As Kira went around picking up the dishes, Athrun couldn't help but notice an odd look on his face. Did it something to do with what he had said either? He decided to wait until Mr. and Mrs. Yamato had left the kitchen to ask. Their previous talk was something between them, something that he did not want to break the privacy of.

"Look, Kira," began as they both piled the dishes into the sink, filling it with water and dish detergent. "About what I said earlier – "

"You didn't mean to sound like you were insulting me or something, right?" Kira said. "Then that's fine. You made me realize that I do live in a sheltered world. I don't know anything. I guess I should really thank you for that. I mean, I'm thirteen, I should know something of this world I'm in, right?"

Athrun was caught off guard.

"Well… I didn't want that to come out of my mouth," he said finally.

"Why not?"

"Because now you'll be dragged into all of this. Yes, it's good to know, and I'm glad you do, but… now you can't enjoy your life without thinking about those things. When the news reaches your ears, you'll worry. When your friends go on with life, unaware of their surroundings, you won't be able to enjoy your life with them..." Athrun trailed off. "You've lost out on the freedom you used to have. I didn't want to do that to anyone."

"But in this family, I feel useless!" Kira said. "My parents always talk about things I don't understand and they always go and do things I don't know about. Am I holding them back? Am I ruining their potential?"

"I think it's because they want you to enjoy your life without worry that they didn't tell you. Parents always do what's best for their children." Even after Athrun said this with as much conviction as his voice could muster, Kira seemed doubtful. But his own words made him think – did his father want him to be a soldier? Was this how Patrick Zala thought of his own son? Sending him into danger, instead of giving him a normal life?

… _of course it's for the best. My father would not have given me this job if he didn't believe I could do the job. This means he has faith in me. And it's only right for ZAFT – so many other soldiers are entering young. Why not the chairman's son?_

"… Athrun?" a voice said. "Athrun? Athrun!"

A splash of soapy water came flinging at Athrun's face, which caught him smack on the face. He blinked from the shock of the frothy material coming in contact with his face and turned in the direction it came, at the only other person in the room.

"And what, may I ask, was that for?" he managed to sputter without the dishwater entering his mouth.

"Well, you were looking so gloomy and deep in thought and not like you, it was scaring me," Kira answered.

"Me? Gloomy? And you were the one moping about whether you were useful or not," Athrun replied indignantly. He grabbed a bowl, dipping it in the sink, and hurled its new contents at Kira. Now that they were both sopping wet with soapy water, they wordlessly declared war on each other and began tossing water at each other. At this time, all doubts of their reason for being were gone and all that remained was the untarnished essence of two teenage boys duking it out on each other in a water fight.

This continued for a while, at least until an angry mother stormed into the kitchen, demanding, "Just what is this mess on the floor?"

"Oh, would you look at that?" Athrun said. "The dishes are all done! I had better go report to the chairman. If you'll excuse me." With that, he nimbly sidestepped around Mrs. Yamato, leaving a poor Kira to face his mother's wrath – alone.

* * *

_Accessing…_

Athrun drummed his fingers on the keyboard in front of him, awaiting the communications link to establish. Doubtless his father was busy today if he needed to wait so long. But what would he say to him? That he activated the second stage of his plan and nearly blew his cover? He needed to draw attention to the school before he killed her elsewhere. He couldn't go and mysteriously disappear after her death. The false trails had to be laid, his records had to be erased from ORB databases, and the like. He thought objectively as to all the things he had to do, the most enervating obstacle being that girl Clyne.

She was a true problem. Athha's daughter would tell her everything and she, in turn, would tell the authorities. He had one last card left to play – well, maybe two. He was wary of using the first, though, and he certainly did not want to use the second. Of course, if he succeeded in winning Athha's daughter over, asking a clandestine meeting of her wouldn't be too hard, and then neither card would have to be played. But he didn't like chances. He liked security.

_Communications established. State name and purpose._

"Athrun Zala. I would request a meeting with Chairman Zala."

The screen flickered for a few moments while the channels adjusted. A few moments later, the familiar face of his father came into view.

"Chairman Zala," he said, saluting. "I have this week's report, sir."

"The progress?"

"Growing, sir. We planted false evidence at today's scene. I think, at this time, that Athha's daughter trusts me and is willing to follow me."

"And you?"

"Me?" Athrun didn't quite understand. "Is there something you want of me, sir?"

"Athrun." Patrick Zala looked at his son with a sad sort of fatherly care long thought to have left him. Athrun had thought the same. "You're not feeling anything for her, are you?" His words, carefully said with the tact of a politician, carried the simple but powerful accusation that left Athrun in silence. It took a while for him to phrase a response.

"I don't believe the attraction is any more than physical," Athrun said, perhaps a little too coldly. His father took it as a sign of the hard soldier he had become and did not question him further, but Athrun couldn't help but get the feeling that the chairman was concerned. Patrick Zala, concerned. He had no time with this. Athrun had to convince him that he was fine.

"Very well," was the response. "I trust that you do not wish to experience true loss. Zala, out." The screen went dark, his father's image gone. It was not like his father to be cryptic, but he had indeed left a strange message for his son.

* * *

CE 70, March 8 

Clyne Household, ORB

Cagalli held the phone in her hand like it was the most interesting thing on the planet, and to her, it probably was at the time. She and Miriallia had decided to continue the talk from after school's premature end and they had been at it for hours. After a while Lacus decided it was futile to remind Cagalli about her lines and her homework, turning to her own duties instead.

Yes, Cagalli was scared from having a knife very nearly impale her in the head. But for some reason, she no longer felt that afraid. She still felt the soothing effects of Asuran's reassurances on her, and just that feeling alone let her relax. Maybe it was just a false sense of security, but it was better than nothing.

Why, though, did it still linger?

"Aw, Mir," Cagalli said into the phone. "Maybe you should have just given him a chance. He seems like a nice enough guy, and he sounds genuine. Frankly, I think that he'll keep pining away for you anyways, so you might as well give it a shot and learn from it."

"But we've been over this," Miriallia's voice said from the phone. "I like him, I really do, but he's right – I'm scared. Scared that what I predict will come true." Her voice was sad, dejected, like it had lost the hope it usually had.

"Well… I think that fear is a limit you set on yourself. Something that stops you from doing anything more. But I think you also have something inside you that can help, and not everyone has it, you know?" After no response, Cagalli exclaimed, "Okay, that's it! I can't do pep talks without a face to talk to! Mir, you're coming over. I'll go clear it with Mr. – uncle first." She almost stumbled over her new identity and blew it, but she managed to keep her cool.

Running next door to Lacus' room, she poked her head in without so much as a knock and asked, "Can I invite Mir over?"

Lacus looked up from her books and papers, stopping mid-hum. Evidently she was writing another song – scores of sheets of staff paper were piled in a corner of her desk. It was her organized chaos, she called it. "Now?" she asked incredulously. "What do you expect her to do, stay the night?"

"Actually, that's an excellent idea," Cagalli said suddenly. "Why not? You should join us too, Lacus!"

"… very well…" the pink-haired girl said, sighing with the reluctant grace of a woman far beyond her years. She got out of her chair and tucked it in, walking out of the doorway. When Cagalli only looked at her, she said, "Cagalli, it was your idea. Have you reconsidered?" Taking this as a sign that she should follow, Cagalli went down to Siegel Clyne's office.

Lacus tapped on the wooden door. It was only now that Cagalli remembered that she didn't even announce herself at Lacus' door. She winced at the realization.

"Father?" she asked. "May I ask you a question?"

Suddenly sensing the plastic device in her hand once more, Cagalli said a quick "I'll call you back" to Miriallia before pressing the 'OFF' button. Her name had already been said between her and Lacus, but any more chances of Miriallia finding out her true identity could, at least, be contained before then.

"Come in," Siegel called out from inside.

It was one of Cagalli's rare ventures into the study of the Clynes. Unlike what the architecture of the house would suggest, the room was not ornate and old-fashioned; instead, the full bookshelves were plain and pragmatic. With a window at its back, the lone desk in the office boasted a single computer, a few books and a plethora of picture frames. Ones of a tiny Lacus, a reading Lacus, a hugging Lacus, a smiling Lacus… they all reflected stages in the life of her 'cousin'; that is, all except one.

The picture was much, much older than the other ones, not only because of the people in it, but because the date on the frame was before Cagalli was even born. There was a man and a woman, each with an arm around the other. Cagalli immediately recognized the man to be Lacus' father, so that left the woman to be her mother. They truly looked similar.

"Well, Cagalli?" Lacus said. Cagalli turned from the picture to the daughter, seriously thinking that she was seeing the picture realized. After managing to straighten her thoughts, she realized that she was being spoken to and quickly formulated her question.

"Yes, uh… can a friend come over? For the night?"

"Now?" Cagalli nodded. "All of a sudden?" Cagalli nodded again. "No."

"Why not?" the blonde asked, slightly angry, but at least understanding the possible reasons for this being.

"There have been far too many attempts on your life. Doubtless they know of us now, too. We'll have to completely seal ourselves off. Under ORB's jurisdiction I would say we are safe, but…" Siegel sighed. "Perhaps we should have told you this earlier. It was our mistake. We have reason to think someone is watching you."

Cagalli frowned. "Watching me? I would think there are ORB spies watching me. Though I don't think Father can spare them for me…"

"I don't think you get what Father means," Lacus spoke up. "I think someone in our class is cooperating with the enemy side."

"… but that's absurd!" Cagalli exclaimed. "We're all thirteen or so! Why would they be helping the military?" She shook her head. "Besides, this is a friend who Lacus can vouch for! You've known Mir for a long time, right?" Lacus nodded slowly as Cagalli turned to her.

"That's true, but she may be coerced or forced into doing something she doesn't want to do," the pink-haired girl said. "Maybe just this once, Father. I'll be with them. Besides, the house is not empty and… let's do something normal for a change." She cast her eyes over at Cagalli.

Siegel looked reluctant, but he eventually nodded in agreement.

"Stay in your rooms, all right?" he said. "I'll arrange for some snacks to be brought up."

Cagalli felt slightly guilty for forcing Lacus' father into doing he didn't necessarily think was good for her, when all he was trying to do was protect her like her father wanted. It was selfish of her. But the deed was done and to Cagalli, there was no sense in looking back. Live for the day, right?

"Come on, Lacus! We better get the place ready for Mir. She seriously needs to look up – she's so gloomy." Running to her room, she quickly made her bed, threw a few floor cushions in place and grabbed the phone. "Mir?" she said after dialling. "You're sleeping over. Come on! No, there's no point in your parents picking you up until the next day. School will be out for a few days – heck, stay for all of that time!"

* * *

Half an hour later, a slightly lost Miriallia Haw found her way to the impressive Clyne house. She pushed the buzzer at the gate and a voice projected, "This is the house of the Clynes. Please state your name." 

"Miriallia Haw," she responded, enunciating clearly.

After a few moments, the gate swung open with the silence not expected of a metal gate that appeared quite old. _I should have brought a camera,_ she thought to herself. _This place would make for an excellent set of old-style photos._ As the machine said "You may proceed", she walked down the length of the path to the door.

"Mir!" Kagari greeted, swinging the door open before Miriallia had even approached it. "I knew you'd come! Here, we'll just head up these stairs," she pointed to a set of gold-railed, carpeted stairs, "and into my room!"

"Y-yeah," Miriallia replied. Kagari seemed really into this. Had she ever been to a sleepover before?

As she proceeded to trudge upstairs with her sleeping bag and clothes, she felt a tug on the duffel bag in her right hand. Miriallia turned to see Lacus smiling and offering to carry it for her.

"Thanks," she said. "Is it just me, or is Kagari really energetic despite what happened this morning?" She herself shuddered at the thought…

"I think it's her way of recuperating, to help others," was Lacus' reply. That was true – Kagari did like to help people. She did it all the time. She might appear to be slightly obnoxious at times, but Miriallia was glad to have such a tenacious friend to pull her through.

"What's taking you two so long?" a voice called down from an upstairs room.

"We're coming," Lacus called back. "Best we move quickly now, right?" She shouldered the duffel bag and moved quickly up the stairs, Miriallia deciding to follow suit.

Behind Lacus, Miriallia entered a yellow-walled room. There was a wooden desk littered with paper and binders in one corner, a bed in another. A door led to what was either a bathroom or a walk-in closet. Various green cushions were tossed on the floor, reading for sitting on. Kagari was already on one, waiting.

"Just drop your stuff over there," she said, pointing at one of the empty spaces in the room. As she said that, a knock rang on the door.

"Yes?" Kagari asked.

A woman – a maid? Miriallia wondered – came in with several bowls of various forms of snacks, including chips, chocolate and the like. She set them on the floor, nodded and left as quietly as she had come.

"Ah, the comfort food!" exclaimed the enthusiastic hostess. "Perfect. Now we can start properly." Having said that, she grabbed a handful of popcorn and immediately began to munch on it. As she chewed, Miriallia wondered just sort of talk Kagari wanted to have.

"Let's get to the situation at hand. Mind if I tell Lacus?" Kagari asked.

"If I might ask, is the problem relating to boys?" Lacus said, perhaps a little bluntly, yet not unkindly. When Miriallia nodded, she added, "Then I think I know what's going on. There's no need to divulge it again if it hurts you to repeat it."

Miriallia nodded. That was kind of Lacus to do.

"Anyways, I still think you should give it a go, Mir. You have to take chances to get more to come to you, you know?" Kagari suggested. "I don't believe that you have to protect yourself from his love. Life won't always mould itself to help you, so you'll run into a break-up perhaps later."

"That's true, but I just don't want an argument to end my first relationship," Miriallia said sadly. She knew the truth in those words Kagari told her, but now she regretted telling Tolle no. He said he'd wait, but would he really do that? He seemed so… thoroughly angry with her, though he had said nothing of it. "Will he still accept me despite what I've said?"

"Just ask him! If he loves you, he accepts you. If he doesn't, our problem's solved anyways," Kagari pointed out simply.

"Not to say it so openly, but I agree," Lacus said. "I think… that those who love each other would risk things for one another, isn't that true? Anything to stay by the other's side… I mean, that's what's in all sorts of romance novels and whatnot, but wouldn't it be largely true to have been written and loved by so many people?" It was the first time Miriallia heard Lacus so uncertain of herself, but her words still bore the girl's wisdom.

Oddly, Kagari grinned. Miriallia didn't know what was so funny.

"Is that so?" she asked. "If that's true, then what of Kira?"

* * *

"… and what of him?" 

Lacus knew Cagalli was prodding at her. Her response had been gradual, calculated, controlled so that her annoyance wouldn't be shown. It was only slight, but this was her house. She had to appear like a good representative. It would do no good for an outburst to happen and ruin the fun on her account.

"You know what I mean. Who can't? I've been here for two months and I already know. We talked about this before! Are you going to just let Flay Allster have her way with Kira?" Cagalli asked. When Lacus didn't argue, she continued. "Following your logic, you should make a move, too. Stand by the one you love, right?"

Cagalli held no ill will and only wanted to give her a morale boost, Lacus knew that, but her mind was playing tricks on her and twisting Cagalli's words. It sounded like Cagalli was accusing her of cowardice, not taking a stand for Kira. Some indescribable anger rose up in her, but she shrugged it off._ I will stay strong._

"My situation… is a different matter. Rather than self-sacrifice, it's reliant on who Kira chooses. I can't force him to choose me or hate Flay. If she's chosen, I know that Kira will be happy and that Flay is good at heart and a good match." For some reason, though, she wouldn't even believe the things she was saying.

Miriallia seemed to understand, but Cagalli pressed on.

"You could… persuade him? I'm not saying you must do it by force. Just… it doesn't look like you're trying, Lacus! I'm just saying that you could try taking the matter a little more into your hands. It's like what I said to Mir. Life doesn't always help you." Cagalli sighed. "Besides, you really like him, right? If you did, you'd make more of an effort."

There was this unmistakable rage that threatened to engulf Lacus, she could feel it. Who said she didn't make an effort? Who said she wasn't trying to make Kira look her way? _Calm down. I will stay strong…_

… was this jealousy?

"I think, Kagari, that what you suggest is something you would do. Lacus… a lot of people expect things out of her," Miriallia attempted to rationalize Lacus' stand on the matter. "She has an image she must keep and duties she has to others. Perhaps… she doesn't have time for something of her own."

Was that really how others saw her? Lacus never knew that she actually appeared that selfless. She wasn't, really. How could they think that? Wanting Kira… was not selfless.

"That's why I'm saying you should – "

"Do you think I'm not trying?" Lacus asked, cutting Cagalli off. "What do you want me to do for Kira, strip? That'll catch his attention, right? Since you seem to be hitting it off so well with Asuran, tell me, Kagari – what sort of things did you do?"

Miriallia blinked. "Lacus?"

"Wait. What are you talking about?" Cagalli said, as though she couldn't believe that this was coming out of Lacus' mouth.

"You say that I don't like him? Fine, I'll admit it. I like Kira. I like Kira so much that it hurts every time I see him hanging out with Flay. Yes, I'm jealous. I'm only human! Yet everyone wants so much out of me and all I want is Kira, whom I can't have." Lacus finally stopped.

Seeing Cagalli and Miriallia staring at her made her realize what she had done.

"… I didn't know you felt that way, Lacus. I'm sorry," Cagalli said. "I only wanted to help you, but I ended up offending you instead…"

"Me too. We shouldn't have pressured you," Miriallia added.

"No! No!" Lacus said frantically. "It's just that… well, I guess I was kind of feeling the pressure and… I needed a vent. Thanks for listening to that. And I didn't mean that stuff about Asuran, Kagari."

After apologies and reconciliations had been passed around, the three girls enjoyed a night of laughter and freedom.

But one thing bugged Cagalli the whole time.

Those words she had said to Lacus… they could be applied to her, couldn't they? Those statements of needing effort, of trying to win over a boy. Was it just her, or did Asuran really seem to feel… something for her? She couldn't deny it any longer – she definitely felt something for him. But was it a fleeting liking or a perpetual longing? She couldn't tell.

There was something certain, though.

Like she said to Lacus, she had to make an effort. She was going to have to make a move if she truly wanted to discover her own feelings – and his.

* * *

Before you kill me (as you most likely will), let me say that I had originally planned to finish my other SEED story first before returning to this. Seeing it neglected so badly made me go back. However, fetishes run freely and depressions go deep. That's all I have to say in my defence. Now I believe I will die, or so help me. 

-EmbeRin


End file.
